Jaipur: Kolkata’s Shankar Das, the reigning Rolex Rankings champion, and rookie Udayan Mane of Bangalore, began the second half of the 2015 PGTI season with outstanding scores of nine-under-61 to be the joint round one leaders at the PGTI Players Championship at Rambagh Golf Club in Jaipur. Abhijit Singh Chadha of Chandigarh struck an eight-under-62 to occupy third place.

Shankar Das, who so far has just one top-10 from his four starts this season, earned his first birdie thanks to an immaculate tee shot on the fourth. He then played his shot of the day, a low hook from under a tree, to set up a tap-in birdie on the fifth. Shankar’s third birdie on the eighth meant he made the turn at three-under.

Das hit accurate tee shots, all within seven feet, on all three par-3s on the back-nine to collect birdies. His brilliant chipping helped him pocket birdies on the last three par-5s as well. The multiple-event winner on the PGTI thus ended up registering one of his lowest scores ever.

Das said, “This is one of my best rounds ever. I hit all greens except one as my drives and approach shots were on the mark. I didn’t leave myself any long putts. It’s great to start the second half of the season in this fashion.

“The long hours of practice that I put into my driving and iron shots during the mid-season break seems to be bearing fruit. The win at the LP Cup in June has been a huge morale-booster as well even though it was a team event. This course demands accuracy off the tee and that is what I’ll strive for over the next three days.”

Udayan Mane, playing his first season as a professional, was also off to a brilliant start at Rambagh with an error-free 61. The highlights of his round included a tee shot within four feet on the fourth, a terrific recovery from the rough for birdie on the seventh and a 20-feet birdie conversion on the 12th.

“I felt I was a little shaky to begin with but soon came into my own. I hit my short-irons and wedges pretty close today. The couple of tournaments that I played at my home course Eagleton recently, kept me in tournament mode during the mid-season break. I’ve worked a lot on my fitness in the past few months and that has helped me raise my game.

“One needs to drive well here to set up easy approaches and also need to be sharp with the wedges,” said Mane.

The preferred lie rule is in application this week for the par-5 holes. Therefore, Shankar and Udayan’s scores of 61 will not be considered a joint course record along with Sanjay Kumar’s nine-under-61 that he shot at the PGTI Players Championship in 2011.

Abhijit Singh Chadha fired an eagle and six birdies to be third, one off the lead. Chadha made eagle on the par-5 eighth with a 15-feet conversion.

Sri Lanka’s Anura Rohana didn’t get too much time to practice during the mid-season break due to his coaching stint with the Sri Lankan amateur team, but he too gave a good account of himself with a 63 on Tuesday. He set up five birdie putts within four feet in round one and sank a 20-footer for birdie on the fifth.

Chandigarh golfer Ajeetesh Sandhu was in fifth place at six-under-64.

Jaipur’s Vishal Singh was placed tied 57th at one-over-71.