Divyanshu Bajaj and Abhinav Lohan were the joint clubhouse leaders on the rain-hit opening day of the SSP Chawrasia Invitational 2023 presented by TAKE Sports being played at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC).
Divyanshu and Abhinav shot scores of even-par 72 in testing conditions as it rained for most of Thursday with varying intensity.
There were two stoppages in play of a total duration of 90 minutes due to rain. As a result, Round I could not be completed on Thursday.
Out of a total field of 126, only 66 players playing in the first session could complete their round on Thursday when play was suspended at 4.45pm owing to fading light. The remaining 60 players will resume Round I on Friday at 6.30am.
Bajaj, playing on his home course, scored three birdies and an equal number of bogeys while Lohan made three birdies, a bogey and a double-bogey. The thick rough this year adds to the challenge of playing at the Royal.
Defending champion Manu Gandas fired a 75 while tournament host SSP Chawrasia returned a 78.
Among those out on the course with unfinished rounds, Syed Saqib Ahmed was the best-placed being two-under through nine holes thanks to three birdies and a bogey.
Tata Steel PGTI Ranking leader Om Prakash Chouhan was one-under through nine holes while Kartik Sharma and American Varun Chopra were both one-under through six holes.
Rahm move
Jon Rahm may have become “sick and tired” of being used as a “puppet” by the PGA Tour as he closes in on a move to LIV Golf, according to former amateur golf sensation Zane Scotland.
Reigning Masters champion Rahm’s silence has been deafening while the Spaniard has been at the centre of rampant speculation that he will join the Saudi Arabia-backed breakaway tour for the 2024 season in a deal rumoured to be worth in the region of £450million.
The move would be a huge coup for LIV and an enormous blow to the PGA Tour amid fears of a second exodus of top players turning their back on the American-based circuit to join LIV.
Scotland, who became the youngest Englishman to qualify for The Open in 1999 aged 18 before injuries from a serious car crash four years later inhibited his career, believes world No. 3 Rahm’s supposed desire to turn his back on the golf establishment is not only motivated by finances but also his frustration with the management of the PGA Tour.
