Gangjee begins with a bang; tops leaderboard after Rd 1

Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei, Aug 24 (UNI) Rahil Gangjee started with a bang firing a stupendous seven under 64 to emerge as the sole leader after the round one in 300,000 dollar Brunei Open here today.

Gangjee unleashed eight birdies against a lone bogey to open a stroke's lead over second placed Taiwanese trio of Mao-chang Sung, Lu Wei-chih and Chen Tze-chung at the par-71 Empire Hotel and Country Club course.

Fellow Indian Harmeet Kahlon also had a rollicking start and he was at the tied fifth spot after an opening round of five-under 66.

However the pick of the pack was 27-year old Gangjee who is in his third year at the Asian Tour.

Beginning on the back nine, the 10th hole bogey was in no way sign of the things to come and it didn't took long for the Indian to get into the groove. With a birdie on the 12th hole, Gangjee not only evened it out but also opened the floodgates for more such strokes.

He ended his back nine two under after gaining stroke apiece on 15th and 16th holes.

No sooner than he made the turn, he struck a purple patch and fired in four birdies on the trot to surge to the top. He gained another stroke on the eighth hole to return a seven-under card.

Gangjee was pleased to be back on top since he was out of action in May when he sustained an injury while competing at the Macau Open. He finished tied 15th at the Crowne Plaza Open last week and was now looking at a strong outing in the remaining half of the season.

Among other Indians in the fray, Amandeep Johl, SSP Chowrasia, Gubaaz Mann and Digvijay Singh were all on tied 42nd spot after returning an identical one under 70 card.

Arjun Singh (71) was at tied 68th place while Jyoti Randhawa's return to Asian Tour was marred with a below par two over 73 round which saw him plummeting to tied 101th spot.

Amritinder Singh (75) and Uttam Singh Mundy (76) were further down the leaderboard at tied 128th and tied 140th postions respectively.

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