Karandeep Kochhar opened with a solid 4-under 67 to move into tied-9th after round one of the International Series Japan.
He sits three shots behind Korea’s Hongtaek Kim, who set the early pace with a 7-under 64 at Caledonian Golf Club.
Kochhar’s round was a tale of two halves. Starting on the back nine, he made nine straight pars before finding momentum after the turn with four birdies on the 1st, 4th, 6th and 8th.
Among the other Indians, Jeev Milkha Singh (72) is tied 85th and Gaganjeet Bhullar (73) is tied 103rd after opening rounds over par.
At the top, Kim leads from Younghan Song and Poom Saksansin, who both carded 65. Kim’s round featured an eagle, six birdies and one bogey as he took advantage of favourable afternoon conditions.
The Korean credited his driving for setting up scoring chances, hitting a high number of fairways to stay in control through the round.
American John Catlin is among a group at 66, while several others remain within striking distance after day one.
With conditions expected to tighten, Kochhar will look to build on a steady start and push further up the leaderboard in round two.
Photo – Asian Tour
