Rashid starts Asian tour season with sizzling 61 at SAIL-SBI Open

New Delhi: Rashid Khan today launched his full Asian Tour season with a sizzling career-best 11-under 61 in the opening round of the SAIL-SBI Open and the young Indian golfer said his target is to win a title in the region this year. The 23-year-old Rashid, playing on his home course, went on a birdie spree as he picked up nine of them and one eagle in a flawless card, in which he didn’t put a foot wrong. [caption id=“attachment_1409645” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of Rashid Khan. AFP[/caption] “I shot the best round of my career. My last best score here was an eight-under in SAIL Open last year. Of course, I hit nine-under in Sri Lanka at the Standard Chartered Open a couple of weeks ago but it has been a great round. “This is my opening event of the Asian Tour and I was seven-under at the back nine and I am very happy with my round,” said Rashid, who claimed the number one position on the 2013 Rolex Rankings. This was the second best score at the DGC, where Liang Wen-Chong of China had set the 18-hole Tour record with a stunning 12-under 60 in the opening round of the 2008 Indian Open. He had won the title with a total of 16-under 272. “Everything went fine today for me. The tee shots, the short game, everything combined well for me. It has been a satisfying round,” added the Delhi golfer, who turned pro in 2010 but missed out on an Asian Tour card at the Qualifying School Final Stage in 2011 and 2012. Relying on sponsor’s invitation, Rashid made five cuts in five attempts with his best effort of tied 29th at the Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters in Malaysia. “I will concentrate on the Asian Tour this year and my aim to win at least a title in the tour this season,” said the Indian, who finished 10th and fourth in the PGTI Ahmedabad Masters and Standard Charter Open respectively in the early domestic season. Playing his front nine, Rashid fired birdies on the first, second, seventh and eighth holes, before setting the course ablaze in his back nine with birdies on the 11th, 13th, 15th, 16th and 18th. However, the icing on the cake was the eagle at the 14th hole. “I hit it close to the pin today. All my shots landed around 5-10 feet away from the hole. I was hitting very well. At the 14th hole, I used a three-wood rescue and then sank a 14-feet putt,” he said. Asked about his game, Rashid said: “I am generally a fast player. I made a few changes in my swing and alignment during the practice round. I knew how to play the draw shot but Ashok Kumar helped me with the fade.” In sizzling form, Sri Lanka’s Mithun Perera, who won the Standard Charter Open and PGTI Eagleburg Open in the last two weeks, fired a six-under 66 today with the help of an eagle at the eighth hole and birdies at 7, 9, 10, 13 and 18th holes, the only blot being the bogey at the 15th. “I came into the tournament supremely confident with two victories and then scored the best card here at DGC. So it was a good day,” he said. PTI