Srinagar, Sept 15 (PTI) Pune-based Udayan Mane, who represented India at the Tokyo Olympics, fired a sublime seven-under 65 in the opening round to take the early lead at the Rs. 40 lakh J&K Open here on Wednesday.

The Delhi duo of Rashid Khan and Honey Baisoya as well as Gurugram's Veer Ahlawat, the runner-up at the PGTI event last week, shot scores of five-under 67 to be tied second.

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Om Prakash Chouhan of Mhow, Chandigarh's Akshay Sharma and Patna's Aman Raj returned cards of four-under 68 to be tied fifth.

Delhi-based Kshitij Naveed Kaul, who has his origins in J&K, carded a 70 to be tied 14th.

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Indian golf legend Jyoti Randhawa posted an even-par 72 to occupy tied 25th place.

Pawan Parihar was the highest-placed among the players based in J&K. Parihar, who hails from the Jammu Tawi Golf Course, also produced a 72 to take a share of 25th place.

Udayan Mane got off to a dream start with eight birdies on the first 10 holes. He struck the ball with pin-point precision, landing it within six feet of the pin to set up birdies on the first, third, fourth, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth.

On the 10th, the big-built Mane sank a 12-footer to move to eight-under for the day.

After a terrific start, Udayan then slowed down on the back-nine as the putts didn't roll in for him. He dropped a bogey on the 15th but saved a good par from the bunker on the 16th.

"I just started off with a bang and was seven-under thru nine holes and eight-under thru 10. Coming in I didn't really make enough putts to get the round going. I was looking at a 59 after the 10th but it didn't go as per plan for me on the back-nine," Mane said.

Among the three players in tied second at 67, Veer Ahlawat and Honey Baisoya had error-free rounds while Rashid Khan made seven birdies and two bogeys.

Bengaluru's Chikkarangappa, the last winner at Royal Springs Golf Course, ended the day with a 73 to be tied 39th while PGTI Order of Merit leader Karandeep Kochhar of Chandigarh was a further two shots back in tied 63rd place.

(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)