Hyderabad, Oct 7 (IANS) Five players packed the top of the leaderboard at 5-under 65 as the IGPL Krishna Invitational 2026 Hyderabad opened with a scoring spree at the Hyderabad Golf Association course in Hyderabad on Wednesday.
Four-time IGPL winner Gaganjeet Bhullar, in-form Aryan Roopa Anand, former Indian Open champion C Muniyappa, Rohit Baisoya and UAE’s Joshua Grenville-Wood, making his IGPL debut, all finished the opening round on 5-under. As many as 16 players were within two shots of each other, leaving the tournament very open with two days left.
Punjab Raptors and Chennai Lions GC shared the team honours after the first two at 9-under, with Bhullar showing the way for Chennai and Muniyappa being the spearhead for Punjab Raptors. For Chennai, all four players were under par, with Bhullar at 5-under, Samarth Dwivedi and Yashas Chandra at 4-under, and Harshjeet Sethi at 3-under.
For Krishna Punjab Raptors, Muniyappa was the top man at 5-under, while Harendra Gupta carded 4-under and Karandeep Kochhar was 3-under. The two best scores will count for team competition. Aryan Roopa Anand was flying the flag for Delhi Blue Bulls with 5-under, and he was supported by his team leader, Shiv Kapur, who played 1-under.
With generous fairways offering plenty of chances to attack, birdies came thick and fast and eagles added to the drama in the third event of the second half of IGPL Season 2. Aryan produced perhaps the most spectacular start of the day, making two eagles in his first five holes, both on par-4s — the second and fifth.
After a dropped shot on the 15th, he bounced back with birdies on the 16th and 17th to close with a 5-under 65. It was another low round from the one-time IGPL winner this season, who has repeatedly shown an ability to go deep under par.
“It was a good, positive start. This is a golf course I’ve played at throughout my junior amateur days, so there’s a lot of familiarity here, and I’m very happy with the way I’ve started today,” said Aryan, who knows the course well and believes that familiarity can help him stay aggressive.
“It’s a golf course where you can take advantage of certain holes, and the key is to be good off the tee. I’m tied for the lead today, but every day is a new day. I just want to stick to my strengths,” he said. “I like to be aggressive at the flags and take the aggressive option, so I’ll continue doing that and play some fearless golf.”
Muniyappa, meanwhile, showed that his experience remains a formidable asset. The 2009 Indian Open champion mixed five birdies and an eagle with two bogeys to join the leaders at 5-under. His eagle came on the 15th and helped turn what had been a solid round into a share of the lead.
“I did well today. I made a couple of bogeys, but also had an eagle on the 15th, so overall it was a very good day,” said Muniyappa, who is playing for the Punjab Raptors, and was encouraged by the way he managed his game.
“The Krishna Punjab Raptors have a good, experienced team. We’ve had some ups and downs over the last 4–5 events, but I believe we will do better in this event. Personally, I felt calmer today.”
He also appears to have embraced a simpler approach to his swing.
He said, “After so many years, I’ve realised that my swing is still there, and while I’m trying to make it perfect, that may not happen. So now I’m focusing on playing with my natural swing.”
Gaganjeet Bhullar, seeking another IGPL title, also produced a steady yet aggressive round. He made two birdies on the front nine before stepping up the pace coming home, picking up four birdies against a bogey on the back nine to finish at 5-under.
Joshua Grenville-Wood almost grabbed the outright lead. The UAE player made two birdies and an eagle on the front nine before adding two more birdies on the back nine. He reached 6-under before a bogey on the closing hole brought him back to 5-under and into the five-way tie.
Rohit Baisoya also made an explosive start, producing back-to-back birdies on the first two holes and repeating the feat on the eighth and ninth to make the turn in 4-under. His momentum was checked by back-to-back bogeys on the back nine, but he steadied himself with a birdie on the 17th to finish alongside the other four leaders.
Just one stroke behind the leaders, four players were locked at 4-under 66.
Samarth Dwivedi was among them after being in the leading group for much of the day. He was still at 5-under through 16 holes before dropping his only shot of the round on the 17th. He was joined by Harendra Gupta, Yashas Chandra and Ravi Kumar, who is playing his first season on the IGPL.
Pukhraj Singh Gill, fresh from a third-place finish in an Asian Development Tour event in Egypt, made a strong recovery. He dropped two shots in his first five holes but responded with five birdies and did not drop another shot thereafter to card 3-under 67 to be Tied-10th.
Gill was tied alongside leading woman player Vani Kapoor, Harshjeet Sethie, Danish Verma, Saarthak Chhibber, Sachin Baisoya and Karandeep Kochhar as seven players were tied 10th at 3-under.
Kochhar’s round was one of the more dramatic ones on the course. He began with a birdie and an eagle in his first six holes and then continued the roller-coaster ride with another eagle, three birdies and two bogeys between the sixth and 11th holes. He eventually signed for a 3-under 67.
–IANS
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