Jamshedpur, : Anirudh Kamireddypalli of Ahmedabad and Aniket Sawant of Delhi took the joint lead with scores of six-under 66 on day one of Pre Qualifying I of the TATA Steel PGTI Qualifying School 2023 being played at the Golmuri Golf Course in Jamshedpur.
Anirudh Kamireddypalli converted two short putts for birdies on the back-nine before making a hole-in-one on the first hole to move to four-under for the day. He added two more birdies on the fourth and eighth making a quality up and down and a tap-in on those two holes.
Aniket Sawant had seven birdies and a bogey on Thursday as he made 16 greens in regulation and hit the ball close to the pins on most occasions.
Chennai-based C Arul and Noida’s Pintu Haldar were tied third with scores of 68.
S Manjunath of Bengaluru, the only player in the field who could not complete his round on Thursday due to fading light, was placed fifth as he was three-under through 17 holes.
Out of a total field of 118, the top 23 players (+ ties) will qualify from Pre Qualifying I, a 36-hole event, for the Final Qualifying Stage. There are three Pre Qualifying events in total.