Lucerne (Switzerland), June 5 (IANS) Veer Ahlawat was the top Indian at the end of the first round of the Swiss Challenge at Golf Sempach in Lucerne, Switzerland. Ahlawat carded a round of 2-under 69 to be placed T-28, while Arjun Prasad was one shot behind at 1-under 71 to be placed T-41.

Among the other Indians, Saptak Talwar had a rough day and was placed T-110 after carding 3-over 74.

Christoffer Bring of Denmark led the field after carding a bogey-free 7-under 64, and he was one shot clear of four players: Haydn Barron, George Bloor, Tadeas Tetak, and Tobias Eden.

Ahlawat, who played on the main DP World Tour last year, has been dividing his time between the Hotel Planner Tour and the DP World Tour. He began his opening round on the back nine and was 1-over par at the turn. He had dropped shots early in his round with bogeys on the 11th and 14th holes, along with a birdie on the 17th hole.

On the front nine, Ahlawat made four birdies in six holes, starting with a birdie on the second hole. His third and final bogey of the day was on the sixth hole. He finished the day with five birdies and three bogeys.

Arjun Prasad began on the back nine and made early progress with birdies on the 13th and 15th holes before dropping shots on the 16th and 18th holes to be even par at the turn. An early birdie on the front nine on the first hole allowed him to move back to below par before dropping a shot on the third hole.

Prasad made a birdie on the sixth hole before making his final bogey of the day on the seventh. He finished the round with a late birdie on the ninth hole to end the day at 1-under 70. He is currently placed T-41 on the leaderboard.

Talwar had a difficult start to the week as he carded 3-over 74 to find himself placed T-110 on the leaderboard. Talwar began his day on the front nine and recorded his sole birdie of the day on the fourth hole before dropping shots with a bogey on the eighth, followed by a double bogey on the 12th and a bogey on the 18th hole.

Christoffer Bring started his day on the front nine and carded four birdies in the first seven holes before making par for the next six holes. Bring made another three birdies in the last five holes to end the day at 7-under 64. There are four players tied for second place at 6-under par.

–IANS

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