Ajeetesh Sandhu opens with solid 66, lies T-25th at the Gran Canaria Open

Ajeetesh Sandhu got off to a fine start with a four-under 66 in the first round of the Gran Canaria Lopesan Open on Thursday.

Sandhu, who makes his second appearance at the European Tour this season, had five birdies against one bogey and was lying tied-25 on a low-scoring opening day at the Meloneras Golf, Gran Canaria, Spain.

The 2019 Jeev Milkha Singh Invitational champion, Sandhu, smashed birdies on third and eighth on front nine with a bogey on Par-4 sixth. He then birdied 13th, 16th, and 18th on the back nine to finish day one campaign at a solid 4-under 66.

Other Indians on the field included Asian Tour winner Shubhankar Sharma, 2019 Tour Champion winner Gaganjeet Bhullar and the veteran SSP Chawrasia.

Both Shubhankar and Gaganjeet finished tied-84th with a total of 1-under 69. SSP Chawrasia, the best-placed Indian in the last week's event, struggled on the first day and stood 147th place after a disastrous 4-over 74.

Four golfers lead the European Tour’s Gran Canaria Open

Robin Roussel, Maximilian Kieffer, Joost Luiten, Joachim B. Hansen all shot seven-under 63 to share the first-round lead at the European Tour’s €1,500,000 event.