Gurugram’s Manu Gandas carded a brilliant six-under 66 to seize the clubhouse lead on the opening day of the Trident Open 2025, the inaugural edition of the INR 1 crore event being played at the Chandigarh Golf Club.
Seasoned professional Shamim Khan, recent PGTI winner Shaurya Bhattacharya, and Bangladesh’s Md Somrat Sikdar were tied second at four-under 68.
The first round could not be completed on Tuesday as play was suspended due to fading light at 5:30 pm. Out of a total of 126 players, 12 were unable to finish their first round and will resume play at 6:40 am on Wednesday.
The event is headlined by Title Sponsor Trident Group, a leading Indian business conglomerate headquartered in Ludhiana, Punjab, under the leadership of Rajinder Gupta, Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) and Chairman of Trident. The company is one of India’s largest players in the home textiles segment with a strong global presence.
Among the local favourites, Akshay Sharma was the best-placed Chandigarh-based player, shooting a 69 to be tied fifth in the clubhouse. PGTI Ranking leader Yuvraj Sandhu and Angad Cheema, both playing at their home course, carded rounds of 72.
The 29-year-old Manu Gandas, the 2022 PGTI Order of Merit Champion, last lifted a title in early 2024. However, he has been in excellent form in recent months, registering six top-10 finishes including two runner-up results in his last seven starts on the PGTI.
On Tuesday, Manu found most fairways and holed several putts in the 7–10 feet range, including a superb 27-footer for birdie on the 8th. After making two birdies on the front nine, he added four more on the back nine.
Manu said, “I’m really pleased with how the day went. I gave myself plenty of chances. Even though I didn’t hole too many long putts, it was a solid round overall. I’ll look to maintain this momentum going forward.
My game has been shaping up well over the past few weeks, and I’ve posted some good scores recently. Drawing confidence from the positives of the last month, I’m hopeful of even better results in the coming events. As always, placing it well off the tee will be the key to scoring on this course.”
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