Bengaluru, Feb 11 (PTI) Aman Raj of Patna took early advantage with a seven-under-65 even as Shubhankar Sharma made a quiet start in the opening round of the TATA Steel PGTI Players Championship 2020 here on Tuesday.

Asian Tour regular Aman mixed eight birdies with a lone bogey to lead by two shots.

Bengaluru's Chikkarangappa and Gurugram-based Veer Ahlawat were in tied second with rounds of five-under-67 at the second event of the 2020 TATA Steel PGTI season.

Star attraction Shubhankar made a sedate start with a one-over-73 to be placed tied 54th.

Aman Raj, the joint runner-up at last week's PGTI event in Hyderabad, enjoyed a good day with the putter as he sank several birdie putts from a range of eight to 10 feet.

The 24-year-old was two-under through the front-nine where he made a 25-feet birdie conversion on the fifth.

Aman Raj then had a sizzling back-nine where he collected five birdies despite missing out on two eagle opportunities on the par-5s 10th and 15th.

Aman, playing a professional event at Eagleton only for the second time, said: "I'm very happy with my round today. It was a good putting day for me and I feel I'm carrying forward the momentum from last week.

"I had a couple of good breaks and I dropped just one bogey today. I had a good putting stretch on the 15th, 16th and 17th but was a little disappointed to miss a chance on the 18th. I'm now looking forward to building on this terrific start."

While Chikkarangappa produced a flawless 67, Veer Ahlawat made an eagle, four birdies and a bogey during his 67.

Pune's Udayan Mane, who won PGTI's last two events, was bunched in tied fourth along with seven other golfers at four-under-68. Local favourite Khalin Joshi was a further stroke behind in tied 12th.

Shubhankar's round of 73 featured a birdie and two bogeys. It placed him joint 54th.

Another Bengaluru-based golfer, Viraj Madappa, the joint runner-up in Hyderabad last week, struck a 74 to be tied 64th.

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