Om Prakash Chouhan and Quim Vidal both posted six under par rounds of 66 on the opening day of the Kolkata Challenge to set the early pace at Royal Calcutta Golf Club.
Spaniard Vidal and Indian Chouhan, both teeing it up in the first of back-to-back co-sanctioned events between the HotelPlanner Tour and the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), lead by one stroke from Austrian Lukas Nemecz and Indian duo S.S.P. Chawrasia and Dhruv Sheoran.
Chouhan was one of the early starters on day one and carded eight birdies and two bogeys to jump into the lead.
The 38-year-old, who secured a maiden HotelPlanner Tour title in the Duncan Taylor Black Bull Challenge two years ago and also won at Royal Calcutta in the same year on the PGTI, was pleased to get his week off to a strong start.
“I’ve always played well here,” he said. “Coming into this week, I felt quite at home as I've won on the HotelPlanner Tour before, and I've also tasted success at Royal Calcutta quite recently.
“I was playing well. I’ve changed a few things with my iron play which worked very well, and this week I’ve also changed my putter, and it was a very good putting day for me.
“I would say I was quietly confident coming into this week. You have to make the most of the two par fives and two par threes here, and I did well to pick up three shots on those four holes.”
Spaniard Vidal went bogey-free late in the day to join Chouhan at the top. Starting at the tenth, he made the turn two under par before firing four more gains on the back nine.
The 25-year-old made three of four cuts in South Africa to start the Road to Mallorca season, and despite struggling to find his best form in Asia 12 months ago, came into the week full of confidence.
“To start the tournament like this, I’m pretty happy,” he said. “I came here with no expectations as I didn’t play very well over here last year, but I know I’m hitting the ball well.
“I came here to play and to see what happened, so it’s a good start.
“You have to be smart around here. You have to know how the ball is going to come out of this grass as it’s very different to what we’re used to, but I made a lot of putts and I probably only missed two greens.”
Dutchmen Daan Huizing and Lars van Meijel, and Albanian Ilirian Zalli share sixth on four under par, with 15 players one shot further back in ninth, including Spaniard Adri Arnaus and Englishman Will Enefer, who is the sole player yet to finish his opening round after play was suspended due to darkness.
Tee times for the second round remain unchanged, with Chouhan teeing off at 6:45am and Vidal at 11:50am.
