Seongnam (Korea), May 2 (PTI) India's Chikkarangappa S had three bogeys in a seven hole stretch as he shot one-over 72 in the first round of the GS Caltex Maekyung Open Golf Championship here on Thursday.

Aman Raj (72) was Tied-37th alongside Chikka while Aadil Bedi (76) was lying at Tied-109th.

Local hopefuls Taehee Lee and Kyeongjun Lee shared the opening round lead with Gowoong Choi and Sungho Lee after they carded four-under-par 67s.

The quartet holds a slender one-shot advantage over Yoseop Seo, who returned with a bogey-free round to ensure a strong local presence atop the leaderboard where 18 of the top-24 players are Koreans.

Jongduck Kim, a former winner of the Maekyung Open in 1994, was among the six players bunched in sixth place on 69s. The 57-year-old Korean is a nine-time winner on the local circuit and a four-time champion on the Japan Golf Tour.

Defending champion Sanghyun Park returned with a 72 to trail by five shots in tied-37th position in the USD $1,067,000 event (approx), which is celebrating its 38th edition this week. PTI

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)