Angad leads with an eight-under-64 on day one

Kathmandu, Nepal: Angad Cheema of Panchkula was on top of the leaderboard with an eight-under-64 after round one of the Surya Nepal Masters 2014. Close on the leader’s heels was Delhi’s Vinod Kumar who carded a 65 on Wednesday. A further stroke adrift was former champion Shamim Khan of Delhi who opened with a 66.

Defending champion and local favourite Shivaram Shrestha shot a 67 that kept him in the hunt as he joined Kolkata’s Shankar Das, Ranjit Singh of Chandigarh, Jamshedpur-based rookie Karan Taunk and the seasoned Gaurav Ghei of Delhi in joint fourth spot.

The leader Angad Cheema’s scorecard was dotted with nine birdies and his only blemish came on the 17th hole. The 24-year-old reeled off birdies on the third and fourth holes before hitting a real purple patch with birdies on the seventh, eighth, 10th, 11th and 12th and then again on the 14th and 18th.

Vinod Kumar’s round was equally impressive as he had seven birdies and an eagle besides bogeys on the ninth and 16th.

Shamim Khan made an eagle, five birdies and a bogey in his opening round.

Shivaram, a tenth tee starter, made a dream start when he went to four-under for his first three holes after a birdie-eagle-birdie run. He then dropped a bogey on the 13th to close his first nine at three-under. On his second nine, Shrestha made his second eagle of the day on the third. He followed that up with two bogeys and two birdies to stay in the mix.