By IANS,
Digboi (Assam): Seasoned stars Feroze Ali and Mukesh Sharma were right on top at the end of the first round of the Indian Oil Xtra premium Masters Golf 2009 Thursday.
Feroze, a former Indian Open champion, shot a five-under 67, studded with an eagle-2 and six other birdies in his 67, while defending champion Mukesh Kumar, for long a star performer on Indian courses, shot four-under 68.
One shot behind in shared third place were youngsters Ranjit Singh Rathore and Amardip Sinh Malik, both of whom shot 69 each. Also shooting 69 were Anirudh Goyal, Vinod Kumar and Shankar Das.
Both Mukesh and Feroze had eagle-twos on the same par-4 14th hole. Mukesh dropped just two shots against an eagle and four birdies, while Feroze had plenty of birdies – six – plus an eagle, but he also dropped a double bogey on 10th and a bogey on 17th.
Shamim Khan and Gaurav Pratap Singh shot 70 each, while five others had a one-under 71.