Yannik Paul finished second last week in Thailand and continued to demonstrate his good form with four consecutive birdies to close his round with a 7-under 65 and take a one-shot lead in the Hero Indian Open at DLF Golf & Country Club.
Seven birdies in the final 10 holes 🤯@YannikPaul signs for an opening round 65 and takes the clubhouse lead.#HIO2023
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) February 23, 2023
"I obviously played well today. I knew it was a challenging course but I just tried to focus on one shot at a time," said the German.
"I had a great finish - four birdies in the last four - that helps, but tomorrow is a new day so I’ll focus on what I can control and see where I end up.
"I don’t really have a number that I want to get to because that’s tough to control. I’m just trying to stay focused on my process and see where I end up come Sunday," he continued.
"It's my sixth week in a row so I took it pretty easy Monday through Wednesday because after a long stretch you can just feel it here, feel it there. I just played a nine-hole pro-am yesterday afternoon then walked the back nine on Tuesday, just to conserve as much energy as I could because I knew it would be challenging here, mentally as well as with the golf shots.
“It’s a tricky course, I think you just have to be 100 per cent committed to every shot and 100 per cent focused."
India's Honey Baisoya had set the clubhouse target at 6-under earlier in spite of a double bogey at the par-4 14th and currently lies in second place ahead of Finland's Mikko Korhonen in third at 5-under.
Attempt 1: 😬
Attempt 2: 🎯Sachin Baisoya nearly holed out from one of the VERY deep bunkers at DLF Golf & Country Club. #HIO2023 pic.twitter.com/1TG10kPTqc
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) February 23, 2023
Fellow Indians Angad Cheema and Shubhankar Sharma are tied in fourth place at 4-under alongside Iceland's Gudmundur Kristjansson.
Play was suspended due to darkness and will restart at 07:50 local time.
