El Jadida (Morocco), May 29 (IANS) Trishul Chinnappa staged a great recovery on his second nine with five birdies in the last six holes to move into the top 10 in the first round of the USD 160,000 IGPL Morocco Rising Stars.
He was Tied-eighth with three other Indians, Sudhir Sharma, Raghav Chugh and Syed Saqib Ahmed. They were three shots behind the leader Hoho Yue of Hong Kong, who shot 6-under 66.
Like Chinnappa, Saqib also had a fine second nine with three birdies, while Sharma, who started the round in the very last group of the day, had an eagle on his first nine. Chugh, who teed off in the second group in the morning, had five birdies against two bogeys.
The four Indians, all prominent players on the IGPL Tour, are still searching for their maiden success on the IGPL and the ADT Tours.
Giving Chugh, Sharma, Saqib and Chinnappa company at Tied-8th were five others, including former Indian Open champion Siddikur Rehman of Bangladesh, Henry Chung of the US, Xu Andi of China and the Thai duo of Nopparat Panichpohol and Thanapol Charoensuk. They shot 69 each.
Chinnappa after a patchy start with three bogeys against two birdies on the front nine. An early bogey on the tenth saw him fall to two-over. Then he flourished as he birdied five times in last six holes. It included four in a row from the 13th. He putted very well, needing just 25 for his entire round.
Chinnappa said, “I played in the afternoon. It was a good start. I made a birdie on the third hole of the day. However, I made bogey on the next three holes soon after. Yet, it was very important that I made the putt on the sixth for a bogey. It was about a 15-footer that I made for bogey. I was losing momentum but that was a very important putt for me.
“I birdied the eighth which was crucial. It was playing right to left into the wind and it was playing long. I hit a driver and then I made a 15-20 footer. I parred the ninth and turned in one over. Then on the back nine I bogeyed the tenth hole. I missed a five footer, so I became two over after ten. Then came a really good up-and-down on 11 to save par.
“After that, things changed for me. I had a good stretch of four birdies which was brilliant. It was 13-14-15-16. I parred 17 with a very good up-and-down from the bunker and I made a good putt for birdie on 18th. In general I’d say that I put myself in good positions.”
Sudhir Sharma had a fine start from the tenth as he eagled Par-5 14th and birdied the 17th to turn in 3-under and it became 4-under with a birdie on the first. Then followed a roller-coaster with two birdies against three bogeys for a 69.
Saqib Ahmed had a great back nine with three birdies and no bogeys, after one birdie and one bogey on the front side of the Mazagan Beach Resort course. Chugh had five birdies against two bogeys.
Two other Indians stars, Samarth Dwivedi and Shaurya Bhattacharya were also inside Top-20 at Tied-17th with cards of 2-under 70 each. Also tied with them was Indian American Varun Chopra, who also plays on the IGPL Tour.
Hong Kong’s Hoho Yue birdie his final hole to edge ahead in the first round, that included a sensational eagle on the par-5 seventh hole, where his second shot from 260 yards almost went in for an albatross. It lipped out but an eagle was duly converted. He also had six birdies for a six-under par 66.
One behind Hoho at five-under par were American Nathan Han and Thailand’s Runchanapong Youprayong. Four players Sven Maurits of the Netherlands, Argentina’s Franco Scorzato, Hong Kong’s Matthew Cheung and Spaniard Agusti Quinquilla Madalena were tied for fourth place at 68.
The local challenge was spearheaded by Ayoub Id-Omar, who was the best among the local Moroccan players, tied 17th at two-under 70.
It was not the best of days for Pukhraj Gill, recent winner of the ADT winner in Malaysia and Karandeep Kochhar, who won the ADT title in Egypt last November.
Pukhraj, who is third on the ADT Order of Merit, started on the tenth and had three birdies on the 12th, 14th and the 18th in his first nine holes. He followed that up with yet another one on he first, at which point he was 4-under and contending for the lead.
Then came a crippling triple bogey on the third, a Par-5, which he would have normally tried to birdie. A double bogey followed on the Par-4 sixth and his challenge took a big hit. He had a birdie-bogey finish but pulled back by the loss of five shots on just two holes, he carded 73 and was seven behind the leader Hoho Yue, who is looking to get his first win as a professional.
Karandeep Kochhar had a frustrating round with 17 pars and just one bogey and was also Tied-56th alongside Gill. With birdie putts not dropping it was a rough day for Kochhar.
This week is the fifth stop on the IGPL Tour for 2026 and it is also the fifth event of the 2026 season on the ADT.
–IANS
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