Indian golfers dominated the leaderboard on the opening day of the Pakistan Open, as Jeev Milkha Singh, Ashok Kumar and Amandeep Johl carded four-under 68 in a four-way lead, with more Indians still out on the course.
Jeev Milkha Singh, looking to set his winless record since 1999 right, shot a bogey free four-under 68, the same as Ashok Kumar.
Johl had just one bogey but five birdies in his 68, the same as Australian Pat Giles, the fourth shareholder in the lead, who had a bogey on the fifth hole.
"I did not set any targets coming into this tournament, so sharing the lead midway through the first round is definitely a good result," said Singh, who birdied the 14th, 17th and the first holes before a 20-foot putt for a birdie on the ninth hole capped a fine day.
Kumar, who got off to a solid start, birdied the 11th, 16th, 17th and third holes.
"I am determined to continue my strong run as I hope to win this tournament. My best finish was tied third in the 2005 Myanmar Open and I plan to better that result here," said Kumar.
Johl, meanwhile, struck five birdies against one bogey.
"I am hitting the ball well and should do well here. It is nice to see so many Indians up on the leaderboard," said Johl, whose best is a second on Asian Tour.
Two other Indians, Arjun Singh and Amritinder Singh are tied fifth at three-under 69, and then SSP Chowrasia is tied eighth at two-under 70.
Two other Indians Rahil Gangjee and Vivek Bhandari finished at even par 72.
Scores:
Indians:
68: Jeev Milkha Singh, Amandeep Johl, Ashok Kumar
69: Amritinder Singh, Arjun Singh
70: SSP Chowrasia
72: Rahil Gangjee, Vivek Bhandari
73: Vikrant Chopra, Harinder Gupta
75: Gaurav Ghei, Jaiveer Virk, Harmeet Kahlon,
76: KPS Sekhon
77: PS Guleria
79: Jaideep Patwardhan.
