Mithun Perera drives home the advantage

Every player has his strategy to tackle the Delhi Golf Club course. Keeping the driver in the bag was Anirban Lahiri’s key to success here in 2011. Mithun Perera however, has always relied on the big club since he first played here as an amateur.

The bubbly golfer from Sri Lanka used his driver 11 times on Thursday to fire a six-under 66 for the opening round lead at the $400,000 Panasonic Open India golf tournament here.

Perera, 28, and looking for a first Asian Tour title, birdied four of his last five holes to grab a one-shot lead over the in-form Chiragh Kumar and Thailand’s Sattaya Supupramai, who was disappointed to miss a five-foot birdie putt on the last hole. “I have confidence when I’m here because of my accuracy. I kept the ball in play and that’s the key to a good score here. My driving accuracy is 70 to 80 per cent so I always trust my driver.

“I’ll try and keep to this rhythm in the next three rounds” said Perera, who fired seven birdies on the day.Two more Sri Lankans — N. Thangaraja and Anura Rohana — followed Perera with 68 and 69 respectively, making it three from the island country in top-10.

Chiragh felt his eight-month old daughter Aynaz had brought good luck to his game. The Delhi pro, who finished tied second at the Macau Open last month, continued his good form with six birdies, including a 40-footer on his second hole.

Playing two groups ahead of the eventual leader, Chiragh finished his round with the clubhouse lead before Perera surged ahead with a 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th.

“I got off to a good start with three straight birdies and that gave me some momentum. I made good putts and could have holed a few more. It was nice to finish with a 10-foot birdie on the last hole,” said the 31-year-old.

Bangladesh’s Siddikur Rahman used his course knowledge to advantage, shooting a four-under 68 to stay in striking distance of the leaders.

“The fairways are soft so it is playing slightly longer but I made some good putts and that helped. “It is nice to see Mithun leading. I think all the accurate players will do well here,” said the two-time Asian Tour winner, who made a late flourish with four birdies to be tied fourth alongside Abhijit Chadha.

Seasoned pro Jyoti Randhawa needed a superb chip shot on the 16th hole to repair the damage done by a wayward tee shot. He managed a double bogey there, in his card of three-under 69.

Randhawa was joined by three more Indians — S. Chikka, Shankar Das and Khalin Joshi — in tied ninth.