Finishing at 1-over 71 and sitting tied for 100th is already pressure enough,but way round started made it even harder .
Sandhu had very shaky beginning,with three straight bogeys early in round . Then came double bogey on fifth hole,and suddenly he was five strokes behind par after just five holes . In golf,that kind of start hurts badly ah,because whole day becomes recovery mode only.
But credit where due,he did not fully collapse after that . He closed front nine with three birdies in row and pulled himself back to even par . That stretch showed some fight,because many players mentally check out after such poor start.
And tbh,this is where round felt frustrating again . Just when it looked like momentum was coming back,he dropped another shot on 14th hole . He did manage birdie on 16th,but final card still stayed at 1-over par .
Few things standing out from opening day:
- Yuvraj Sandhu finished 1-over 71 and was tied for 100th.
- Yanhan Zhou shot 8-under 62 with seven birdies and an eagle .
- Ricardo Gouveia carded 7-under 63 and stayed right behind.
At top,Yanhan Zhou has already set strong pace . 18-year-old from China shooting 8-under 62 is not small thing,especially when course is giving scoring chances . Ricardo Gouveia also kept himself right there with 7-under 63.
And this is problem for Sandhu now . Kitzbühel course is known for low-scoring potential,so just playing safe may not be enough from here . He needs much sharper second round if he wants to give himself chance for weekend.
Sandhu has shown promise before,including win at TATA Steel PGTI Players Championship in 2022 . So ability is there,but this week is now testing patience and timing more than anything.
One bad start does not finish tournament,but when leaders are already flying at 8-under and 7-under,margin becomes very thin . Now question is whether Sandhu can turn this around before cut pressure becomes too much…
