<p>Sri Lanka’s Mithun Perera shot six-under-par 66 to lead in the opening round of the US$400,000 Panasonic Open at the Delhi Golf Club here on Thursday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The 28-year-old, who has five wins on the domestic PGTI Tour but none on the Asian, sank seven birdies, including four on the closing five holes, to hold a one-shot advantage over an in-form Chiragh Kumar of India and Sattaya Supupramai of Thailand.<br /><br />Bangladesh’s Siddikur Rahman, N Thangaraja of Sri Lanka, India’s Abhijit Chadha and Thai duo Thaworn Wiratchant, a two-time Asian Tour number one, and Thitiphun Chuayprakong were joint fourth on 68.<br /><br />Perera, who lost in a three-way play-off here last year, picked shots on 14th, 15th, 17th and 18th holes to grab the outright lead. The only blip in his successful run was a bogey in the fifth hole.<br /><br />“It is nice to start with two gimmie birdies. That gave me a lot of confidence,” said Perera, who holed 24 putts on the day.<br /><br />“I’ll try and keep to this rhythm in the next three rounds. I always have good confidence when I’m here because of my accuracy.<br /><br />Chiragh fired six birdies on his home course to build on his good form after finishing tied second at the Macao Open three weeks ago.<br /><br />“I got off to a good start with three straight birdies and that gave me some momentum. It was nice to finish with a 10-foot birdie on the last hole,” he said.<br /><br />The 31-year-old Sattaya fired his best score at DGC to hold a clubhouse lead but missed a close range birdie putt on the last hole to slip to joint second.<br /><br />“I like this golf course but I always did badly here. I’ve missed many cuts here. I have no complaints with my score today except that poor birdie attempt on 18,” said Sattaya.<br /><br />Leading scores (after 18 holes): 66: Mithun Perera (SL); 67: Chiragh Kumar (Ind), Sattaya Supupramai (Tha); 68: Thitiphun Chuayprakong (Tha), N Thangaraja (SL), Siddikur Rahman (Ban), Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha), Abhijit Chadha (Ind); 69: Anura Rohana (SL), Niall Turner (Ire), S Chikkarangappa (Ind), Shankar Das (Ind), Jyoti Randhawa (Ind), K Prabagaran (SL), Khalin Joshi (Ind), George Gandranata (Ina).<br /></p>
<p>Sri Lanka’s Mithun Perera shot six-under-par 66 to lead in the opening round of the US$400,000 Panasonic Open at the Delhi Golf Club here on Thursday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The 28-year-old, who has five wins on the domestic PGTI Tour but none on the Asian, sank seven birdies, including four on the closing five holes, to hold a one-shot advantage over an in-form Chiragh Kumar of India and Sattaya Supupramai of Thailand.<br /><br />Bangladesh’s Siddikur Rahman, N Thangaraja of Sri Lanka, India’s Abhijit Chadha and Thai duo Thaworn Wiratchant, a two-time Asian Tour number one, and Thitiphun Chuayprakong were joint fourth on 68.<br /><br />Perera, who lost in a three-way play-off here last year, picked shots on 14th, 15th, 17th and 18th holes to grab the outright lead. The only blip in his successful run was a bogey in the fifth hole.<br /><br />“It is nice to start with two gimmie birdies. That gave me a lot of confidence,” said Perera, who holed 24 putts on the day.<br /><br />“I’ll try and keep to this rhythm in the next three rounds. I always have good confidence when I’m here because of my accuracy.<br /><br />Chiragh fired six birdies on his home course to build on his good form after finishing tied second at the Macao Open three weeks ago.<br /><br />“I got off to a good start with three straight birdies and that gave me some momentum. It was nice to finish with a 10-foot birdie on the last hole,” he said.<br /><br />The 31-year-old Sattaya fired his best score at DGC to hold a clubhouse lead but missed a close range birdie putt on the last hole to slip to joint second.<br /><br />“I like this golf course but I always did badly here. I’ve missed many cuts here. I have no complaints with my score today except that poor birdie attempt on 18,” said Sattaya.<br /><br />Leading scores (after 18 holes): 66: Mithun Perera (SL); 67: Chiragh Kumar (Ind), Sattaya Supupramai (Tha); 68: Thitiphun Chuayprakong (Tha), N Thangaraja (SL), Siddikur Rahman (Ban), Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha), Abhijit Chadha (Ind); 69: Anura Rohana (SL), Niall Turner (Ire), S Chikkarangappa (Ind), Shankar Das (Ind), Jyoti Randhawa (Ind), K Prabagaran (SL), Khalin Joshi (Ind), George Gandranata (Ina).<br /></p>