From correspondents in Asia Pacific, 06:00 PM IST

Young Gaganjeet Bhullar, who came within a whisker of winning his maiden title late last year and then made a bid for the SAIL Open in March, opened strongly with a four-under 68 that put him just one shot adrift of the leaders after the first round of the Singha Thailand PGA Championship Thursday.

Bhullar's senior colleague, Arjun Singh, also returned a steady card of 68 to be tied fifth, while the rest of the Indians had mixed luck on the first day of event, organised by Sports Authority of Thailand, at the Santiburi Country Club.

Harmeet Kahlon, searching for the form that gave him his only title on the Asian Tour in 2002, Himmat Rai and Gurbaaz Mann all shot one-under 71 each to be tied 29th.

The rest of the Indians struggled as Gaurav Ghei (73) was 66th, Digvijay Singh, Rahil Gangjee and Anirban Lahiri shot 74 each to be tied 76th, Firoz Ali and Amandeep Johl were 95th with 75 each, Ranjit Singh (K) was 110th with 76 and his name Ranjit Singh from Chandigarh was 141st with an eight-over 80.

Thai Prayad Marksaeng, looking for his third title in the month, shared the early honours with Chinese Taipei's Lien Lu-sen and the straight-hitting Australian Terry Pilkadaris. Australian Unho Park joined them in the lead in the afternoon session. They all shot five-under 67 each.

Bhullar, widely seen as a great prospect for the future and member of the Indian team which won the 2006 Asian Games silver medal, said, "I didn't drive very well and hit only four or five fairways but my approach shots were very good today. I got out of the rough well and managed to make five birdies against one bogey.

Bhullar opened birdie-birdie and then his only dropped shot of the day came on the par-four fifth and he turned in one-under 35. On the home stretch he birdied 12th, 13th and the 18th to close with a 68.

Arjun Singh birdied third and fifth and then bogeyed the sixth, before picking two more birdies on eighth and ninth to turn in three-under 33. Just one birdie on 12th and the rest pars, he finished with a 68.

"On this course, I would rather hit it with my driver than a two iron or a wood as the width of the fairways are nearly the same and I'd rather be closer to the green with a wedge from the rough compared to a longer iron," said Bhullar. "My birdies were all from inside eight feet and it showed that my iron play was pretty good. It's my intention to stay inside the top-65 on the Asian Tour's Order of Merit to keep my card."

However, he admitted that his goal is his first win. "But of course if I can pull off a win, that would save me all the trouble! I have been in contention on the PGTI Tour on several occasions this year and I managed a top-10 at the SAIL Open on the Asian Tour," he said.

Bhullar and Arjun shared the fifth spot with three other Thais Chinnarat Phadungsil, Wisut Arjanawat and Thammanoon Srirot, Australian David Gleeson, Filipino Juvic Pagunsan, American Han Lee and Chinese Taipei's Chang Tse Peng, all of whom shot 68 each.

In-form Prayad moved into early lead with a sparkling five-under-par 67. He had six birdies, including four on the four par-fives, and had just one bogey.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)