Marcus Armitage made seven birdies and three bogeys to close with a 4-under 68 and take a share of the lead at the Hero Indian Open.
“I really like the golf course, it’s different, you’ve got to play some great golf to shoot a good score and I putted fantastic today so it’s really cool to get some success around here,” said the Englishman.
“I just kept patient out there because it can wind you up, this golf course, you can get frustrated pretty quick. I just dug in and I’m really pleased with it.”
Marcus Kinhult started strong with three birdies in his first four holes before his only bogey of the day at the par-4 7th immediately followed by another birdie to make the turn in 33. He added a single birdie on the back nine for his share of the lead.
Nicolas Colsaerts produced three bogeys and five birdies on the front nine, as well as three birdies on the back nine to join the tie at the top of the leaderboard.
“It went great today. It’s a difficult golf course and anyone who will shoot under-par today is going to be extremely happy,” said the Belgian. “The rough is high this year, the greens are firmer and it’s a little bit like a mini US Open. It’s a really hard course.
“The 18th hole is a really nice finishing hole and 16 visually is an amazing par three, there’s a couple of great holes on the front.
“I don’t think 17 is going to be of everyone’s taste because you don’t really see anything, it’s big elevation but I think all in all it’s a golf course that if you play good golf you’re going to enjoy playing.
“I would like to stay as patient as I was today and keep understanding that the pars are good, if you make a few birdies it’s great, everybody’s going to make bogeys and I’m going to try to keep the ball in play as much as possible.”
England’s Matthew Jordan, Todd Clements and Ross Fisher are part of a six-way tie for fourth place at 3-under.
Related: LIV Golf team profile: Who are Cleeks GC?
| Pos. | Player | To Par | R1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | KINHULT, Marcus | -4 | 68 |
| | COLSAERTS, Nicolas | -4 | 68 |
| | ARMITAGE, Marcus | -4 | 68 |
| 4 | LUITEN, Joost | -3 | 69 |
| | COUSSAUD, Ugo | -3 | 69 |
| | SANDHU, Ajeetesh | -3 | 69 |
| | JORDAN, Matthew | -3 | 69 |
| | CLEMENTS, Todd | -3 | 69 |
| | FISHER, Ross | -3 | 69 |
| 10 | VAN VELZEN, Ryan | -2 | 70 |
| AYORA, Angel | -2 | 70 | |
| | AHLAWAT, Veer | -2 | 70 |
| | JARVIS, Casey | -2 | 70 |
| | CHACARRA, Eugenio | -2 | 70 |
| | STONE, Brandon | -2 | 70 |
| | HALVORSEN, Andreas | -2 | 70 |
| | KNAPPE, Alexander | -2 | 70 |
| | COCKERILL, Aaron | -2 | 70 |
| | MERRITT, Troy | -2 | 70 |
| 20 | VAILLANT, Tom | -1 | 71 |
| | PARRY, John | -1 | 71 |
| | KO, Jeong weon | -1 | 71 |
| | GUERRIER, Julien | -1 | 71 |
| | LINDELL, Oliver | -1 | 71 |
| | GERMISHUYS, Deon | -1 | 71 |
| BERRY, Joshua | -1 | 71 | |
| | APHIBARNRAT, Kiradech | -1 | 71 |
| | DANTORP, Jens | -1 | 71 |
| | HEBERT, Benjamin | -1 | 71 |
| 30 | KIM, MK | Par | 72 |
| | BHULLAR, Gaganjeet | Par | 72 |
| | VEERMAN, Johannes | Par | 72 |
| | CHOUHAN, Om Prakash | Par | 72 |
| | THOMAS, Rayhan | Par | 72 |
| | SCRIVENER, Jason | Par | 72 |
| | SENIOR, Jack | Par | 72 |
| | BJERREGAARD, Lucas | Par | 72 |
| | ENOCH, Rhys | Par | 72 |
| | LACROIX, Frederic | Par | 72 |
| | WU, Brandon | Par | 72 |
| | HARDING, Justin | Par | 72 |
| | CHAWRASIA, S.S.P. | Par | 72 |
| | LAPORTA, Francesco | Par | 72 |
| | FERGUSON, Ewen | Par | 72 |
| | SHINKWIN, Callum | Par | 72 |
| | GOUVEIA, Ricardo | Par | 72 |
| | KAPUR, Shiv | Par | 72 |
| | GUMBERG, Jordan | Par | 72 |
| | PAUL, Yannik | Par | 72 |
| | BALDWIN, Matthew | Par | 72 |
| LEVY, Alexander | Par | 72 | |
| | PULKKANEN, Tapio | Par | 72 |
| | REITAN, Kristoffer | Par | 72 |
| 54 | FITZPATRICK, Alex | +1 | 73 |
| | WINTHER, Jeff | +1 | 73 |
| | MIGLIOZZI, Guido | +1 | 73 |
| | MOLINARI, Edoardo | +1 | 73 |
| | KIMSEY, Nathan | +1 | 73 |
| | RAJ, Aman | +1 | 73 |
| | BAISOYA, Sachin | +1 | 73 |
| | BHATTACHARYA, Shaurya | +1 | 73 |
| | ROBINSON THOMPSON, Brandon | +1 | 73 |
| | JOHNSTON, Ryggs | +1 | 73 |
| | PAVAN, Andrea | +1 | 73 |
| | PENGE, Marco | +1 | 73 |
| | THANGARAJA, N | +1 | 73 |
| 67 | LAGERGREN, Joakim | +2 | 74 |
| | DEAN, Joe | +2 | 74 |
| | SADDIER, Adrien | +2 | 74 |
| | TALWAR, Saptak | +2 | 74 |
| | NAKAJIMA, Keita | +2 | 74 |
| | ELVIRA, Nacho | +2 | 74 |
| | GREEN, Gavin | +2 | 74 |
| | KIEFFER, Maximilian | +2 | 74 |
| | SCHWAB, Matthias | +2 | 74 |
| | STERNE, Richard | +2 | 74 |
| | DHARMA, M | +2 | 74 |
| | SCHAPER, Jayden | +2 | 74 |
| | COUVRA, Martin | +2 | 74 |
| 80 | DE BRUYN, Jannik | +3 | 75 |
| | ELVIRA, Manuel | +3 | 75 |
| | PURCELL, Conor | +3 | 75 |
| | CAMPILLO, Jorge | +3 | 75 |
| | MANSELL, Richard | +3 | 75 |
| | HIDALGO, Angel | +3 | 75 |
| | SHARMA, Shubhankar | +3 | 75 |
| | LARRAZÁBAL, Pablo | +3 | 75 |
| | HILL, Calum | +3 | 75 |
| | ZANOTTI, Fabrizio | +3 | 75 |
| | ERICKSON, Dan | +3 | 75 |
| | NIENABER, Wilco | +3 | 75 |
| 92 | HILLIER, Daniel | +4 | 76 |
| | HOSSAIN, Jamal | +4 | 76 |
| | SINGH, Kartik (AM) | +4 | 76 |
| | BAIRSTOW, Sam | +4 | 76 |
| | SIEM, Marcel | +4 | 76 |
| | SCHNEIDER, Marcel | +4 | 76 |
| | BAUTISTA, Austin | +4 | 76 |
| | SINGH SANDHU, Jairaj | +4 | 76 |
| | GALE, Daniel | +4 | 76 |
| 101 | AIKEN, Thomas | +5 | 77 |
| | HUIZING, Daan | +5 | 77 |
| | KAUL, Kshitij Naveed | +5 | 77 |
| | MISHRA, Anshul (AM) | +5 | 77 |
| | SINGH AHLAWAT, Anant (AM) | +5 | 77 |
| | MOSCATEL, Joel | +5 | 77 |
| | OTAEGUI, Adrian | +5 | 77 |
| | PARIKH, Varun | +5 | 77 |
| | SCHMIDT, Ben | +5 | 77 |
| 110 | DAHIYA, Rakshit (AM) | +6 | 78 |
| | WIESBERGER, Bernd | +6 | 78 |
| | ÅKESSON, Björn | +6 | 78 |
| | RAVETTO, David | +6 | 78 |
| | SHEORAN, Dhruv | +6 | 78 |
| 115 | LOMBARD, Zander | +7 | 79 |
| | WHITNELL, Dale | +7 | 79 |
| | LANGASQUE, Romain | +7 | 79 |
| | WILSON, Andrew | +7 | 79 |
| | DAS, Shankar | +7 | 79 |
| 120 | GANDAS, Manu | +8 | 80 |
| | PINEAU, Pierre | +8 | 80 |
| | GRIFFIN, Matthew | +8 | 80 |
| | VAN DRIEL, Darius | +8 | 80 |
| | LOHAN, Abhinav | +8 | 80 |
| 125 | MANE, Udayan | +9 | 81 |
| | CABRERA BELLO, Rafa | +9 | 81 |
| | LINDBERG, Mikael | +9 | 81 |
| | SETHIE, Harshjeet Singh | +9 | 81 |
| | CHEEMA, Angad | +9 | 81 |
| | SANDHU, Yuvraj | +9 | 81 |
| | GIRRBACH, Joel | +9 | 81 |
| 132 | KENNEDY, Frank | +10 | 82 |
| | FOLLETT-SMITH, Benjamin | +10 | 82 |
| | ALBERTSE, Louis | +10 | 82 |
| | BARKER, Lachlan | +10 | 82 |
| 136 | JOHN, Cameron | +11 | 83 |
| 137 | BINU, Shaurya | +12 | 84 |
| 138 | P SINGH, Karan | +15 | 87 |
Simon Bale
The editorial team at Golf Today strives to provide readers with captivating content that celebrates the rich heritage and exciting developments in the world of golf. Their collective expertise and dedication ensure that Golf Today remains a premier destination for golf enthusiasts seeking the latest news, insightful analysis, and engaging stories from the world of golf.