Chandigarh: Manu Gandas struck a six-under 66 to take the clubhouse lead on day one of the inaugural Trident Open, an INR 1 crore event, being played at the Chandigarh Golf Club.
The seasoned Shamim Khan, winner of PGTI’s last event Shaurya Bhattacharya and Bangladesh’s Md Somrat Sikdar were all tied for second place at four-under 68.
The first round could not be completed on Tuesday as play was suspended due to fading light at 5:30 pm local time. Twelve players out of a total of 126 were not able to finish their first round on Tuesday. They will resume play at 6:40 am on Wednesday.
The tournament is supported by Title Sponsor Trident Group. Trident Group is an Indian business conglomerate and global player led by the dynamic Mr. Rajinder Gupta, Member Parliament (Rajya Sabha) and Chairman. Headquartered in Ludhiana, Punjab, Trident is one of the largest players in home textiles in India and abroad.
The strong support of PGTI’s Tour Partners all year round is helping elevate the stature of Indian professional golf. PGTI’s Tour Partners are Rolex, Amul, IndusInd Bank, Victorious Choice, Campa, Amrutanjan Electro Plus, Golf Plus Monthly and Golf Design India.
Akshay Sharma was the highest-placed among the Chandigarh-based players as he returned a 69 to be tied fifth in the clubhouse.
PGTI Ranking leader Yuvraj Sandhu and Angad Cheema, two of the top names in the field who are also playing at their home course, carded scores of 72.
Twenty-nine-year-old Manu Gandas, the 2022 PGTI Order of Merit champion, won his last title in early 2024. However, he has shown all the signs of getting back to his winning ways with a number of good results in recent times. Gurugram-based Manu, currently 14th in the PGTI’s merit list, has posted six top-10s including two runner-up finishes in his last seven starts on the PGTI.
Gandas found most fairways on Tuesday and made a number of putts from a range of seven to 10 feet. He also sank a 27-footer for birdie on the eighth. After making two birdies on the front-nine, Manu added four more on the back-nine.
Manu said, “I’m happy with the way the day turned out. I gave myself a lot of chances. Even though I didn’t hole too many putts, it was a solid round. I will look to continue the same going ahead.
“The game is shaping up well as I’ve posted some really good scores over the past few weeks. Drawing on all the positives of the last one month, I’m now hopeful of even better results in the coming weeks. As always, placing it well off the tee will be the key to scoring well at this course.”
