S.A.S. Nagar (Punjab), June 11 : Tricity-lad Umed Kumar made his professional debut in style as he shot a three-under 61 to jointly lead the opening round along with Bengaluru's Mari Muthu R. at the fourth event of the PGTI NexGen season being played at the Forest Hill Golf & Country Club in S.A.S. Nagar, Punjab on Wednesday.

The Forest Hill Golf & Country Club is a par-64 nine-hole course where the nine holes are played twice to comprise a round.

Umed Kumar, a winner of two amateur titles, including the Eastern India Amateur in 2023, made a dream start to his pro career thanks to his exceptional short game. He sank a couple of birdies from a range of 12 to 15 feet and also chipped in for birdie on the fourth hole.

'I'm delighted to make a good start in my first-ever professional event. This gives me a lot of confidence going ahead. I negotiated the windy conditions well and played some solid golf as I found all fairways and missed just three greens," Umed said.

'I'm quite familiar with this golf course as I have playing rights here, so that is an added advantage for me. I know where to land my approaches and which side I can afford to miss the greens, if at all,' he said.

Mari Muthu, the co-leader, was outstanding with his wedge shots and chipping as he landed it within five feet on four occasions to set up birdies. Kolkata's Khokan Molla made a hole-in-one on the 18th during his round of 78.

The fourth event of the 2025 Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) NexGen season offers a prize purse of INR 20 lakh and marks the return of men's professional golf and the PGTI to Mohali after 11 years.

The top 36 players and ties will make the cut for the third and final round. The tournament features a field of 72 players. The PGTI NexGen Order of Merit is currently being led by Rajesh Kumar Gautam of Lucknow, who has season's earnings of INR 4,29,600.

/IANS