Siddikur takes top honours, Rashid best Indian
Bangladesh's Siddikur Rahman carded seven-under 65 to take the pole position on the opening day of $750,000 DGC Open.
Siddikur Rahman reeled off five birdies in his final seven holes to jump into the solo lead on the opening day of the $750,000 DGC Open at the Delhi Golf Club here on Thursday. The 38-year-old Bangladeshi veteran teed off from the front nine and carded a seven-under 65 to begin the quest for a third Asian Tour title in style.
Philippines' Justin Quiban, Thailand's defending champion Nitithorn Thippong, and India's Rashid Khan all carded five under to take the second spot. Quiban and Thippong were in joint lead for the better part of the day before Siddikur went on a birdie blitz as the day came to an end.
Interestingly, three of the day's top four -- Siddikur, Rashid, and Thippong -- have recorded their maiden Asian Tour wins at this course while Quiban's career-best finish -- a fifth-place result at last year's DGC Open -- also arrived here. Siddikur, in fact, has 13 Asian Tour top-10s at this venue, and so a bogey-free day was pretty much par for the course.
Indeed, none of Siddikur, Rashid, and Quiban dropped a shot while Thippong had four birdies and an eagle to go with a solitary bogey as the course stayed true and breeze manageable.
Siddikur hit two birdies in the front nine before coming into his own on the back where he birdied on the 12th, 14th, 15th, 17th, and 18th holes. Five of his seven birdies were a result of his sublime putting while two came via delectable chips. He picked the chip-in on the 17th as his favourite.
"I have been working on my technique, fitness, and mental training. I think it's working now. I feel I can hit whatever shot I want," said Siddikur. "I like these greens more than before. The course condition is very good, the fairways are really nice, and the greens are nice. But going by this course's history, I don't think the winning score will be more than 15."
Earlier, Quiban turned a quiet start around with successive birdies on the 12th, 13th, and 14th before rounding off the day with a brace of birdies on the 17th and 18th.
Thippong, who has had a slow start to the year -- a solitary top-20 finish in four starts in 2023 -- had admitted to being a bit off-colour coming into the event. The two-time winner on the continental tour shook off the rust in style, scoring four birdies and an eagle to go with the lone bogey.
Thippong parred his first hole (10th) and birdied the next from ten feet on the slope. Another birdie arrived on the 15th with a six-feet putt. On the par 5 first hole, his second shot found the greens to set up another easy birdie. The highlight though was the eagle on par 5 eighth where he nailed a 10-yard putt.
Rashid best among Indians
Meanwhile, Rashid Khan shone on his home course to emerge as the best Indian on view. He shot five birdies in his final nine to go past compatriots S Chikkarangappa and Om Prakash Chouhan on the leaderboard.
"I was in some tricky situations in the first nine but I managed them. Eventually, getting out of the course without making any bogey means a lot. I don't mind having three birdies and 15 pars any day. Losing shots does play on your mind. I can sleep well tonight," Rashid, who has lately been working with veteran Ashok Kumar, said.
The 32-year-old had a freak back injury last November -- his lumbar spine was injured on impact with a door ledge after he accidentally tripped over -- and getting his swing back is a major fillip for the two-time continental tour winner.
"I was really scared to hit because even the slightest movement would kill me. I had to change my swing a little and have also reworked my putting. All of that is still coming together," he said.