Grant Thornton Invitational: Sheoran shoots 68 to hold clubhouse lead on day-1
Sep 27, 2022
Gurugram (Haryana) [India], September 28 : Gurugram-based professional Dhruv Sheoran, playing at his home course, the DLF Golf and Country Club, struck a four-under 68 to take the clubhouse lead on day one of the Kapil Dev - Grant Thornton Invitational 2022.
Round one could not be completed on Tuesday as fading light forced suspension of play at 6:20 pm with 19 golfers out of a total of 124 yet to finish their rounds. Play will resume at 7 am on Wednesday with the recommencement of round one. Round two will get underway after the completion of round one.
The five golfers bunched in tied second place were Deepinder Singh Kullar and Sunhit Bishnoi, both of whom also hail from the DLF Golf & Country Club and Bengaluru's Trishul Chinnappa and the Mhow-based duo of Om Prakash Chouhan and Mukesh Kumar.
The 27-year-old Dhruv Sheoran, who has had an ordinary season so far with just one top-20, capitalized on his hot short-game in round one even as he struggled with his drives. Sheoran, a two-time winner on the PGTI Feeder Tour, was one-over through his first six holes but then rallied with birdies on the 17th, 18th and first where he left himself some short putts.
Dhruv then added four birdies and two bogeys to his card. His birdies included a 25-feet conversion on the third and a chip that hit the flag on the fourth.
Sheoran said, "I stuck to my gameplan. Since this is my home course, I knew all the bailout areas which always help in this course. I chipped and put really well even though my long game which is usually my strength, wasn't up to the mark today.
"I enjoyed a good stretch on the 17th, 18th and first where I set up short birdie putts that gave me a lot of confidence. Those three birdies also gave me a cushion on the front-nine as I knew how this course could be hard on you. My game was more free-flowing after the three straight birdies."
Among the prominent names, Yuvraj Singh Sandhu was tied 11th at 72, Gaganjeet Bhullar was tied 44th at 75 and Jyoti Randhawa was tied 71st at 77.
Earlier in the morning, there was a ceremonial tee off by Indian cricket legend, PGTI Board Member and Tournament Host Kapil Dev to inaugurate the event. Mr Vishesh C Chandiok, CEO, Grant Thornton Bharat and Mr Aakash Ohri, Group Executive Director and Chief Business Officer, DLF Home Developers Ltd, also participated in the ceremonial tee-off.
