Ahmedabad: Rajiv Kumar Jatiwal of Chandigarh and amateur Rishiraj Singh Saini shot scores of one-under-71 to be tied for the first round lead at the PGTI’s Final Qualifying Stage for the 2016 season being held at Kensville Golf & Country Club near Ahmedabad.

Rajiv Kumar Jatiwal struck an eagle, a birdie and two bogeys during his opening round on Tuesday. Jatiwal chipped-in for eagle on the par-5 ninth and landed his approach within two feet for a tap-in birdie on the 13th. He had bogeys on the fourth and 17th. He also missed an eagle from five feet on the par-5 14th. He three-putted from five feet to make par on the 14th.

Jatiwal said, “This is an important week for me since I’m striving to earn my card. I had a great start to the event and the chip-in eagle was special. I had another golden opportunity for eagle on the 14th but squandered it with some poor putting.”

Rishiraj Singh Saini made three birdies and two bogeys, all on the back nine, to share the lead with Jatiwal.

Shivendra Singh Sisodia of Gurgaon was third with an even-par-72 while Bikramjit Singh Sandhu, another Gurgaon-based golfer and Delhi’s Wasim Khan were tied fourth with scores of one-over-73.

The top 80 players (+ ties) will make the cut after round two of the Final Qualifying Stage. At the end of round four only the top 35 players (+ ties) will earn full cards for the 2016 PGTI season.