Ajeetesh Sandhu placed fourth at Taiwan Masters

India's Ajeetesh Sandhu went on a birdie spree to turn in a four-under 68 and lie fourth after the opening round of the Mercuries Taiwan Masters here on Thursday. Sandhu, starting from the back nine, opened with a bogey but blasting five birdies on the trot from 13th to 17th to turn in four-under.

On the second nine -- the front side of the Taiwan Golf and Country Club course, he had nine pars to total 68. Philippines' Miguel Tabuena and Malaysia's Nicholas Fung, who are sharing a room this week, returned matching five-under 67s to be tied for the first round lead with South Africa's Keith Horne.

Among other Indians, S Chikkarangappa was Tied-8th with 70, while Aman Raj and Khalin Joshi shot 71 each to T-17, Rashid Khan, Chiragh Kumar, Viraj Madappa and Abhijit Chadha carded 72 each and were T-30th. Aadil Bedi (74) was T-59th, Shiv Kapur (75) was T-79 and Jeev Milkha Singh (76) was T-90.

"I made five birdies in a row and I think that was the most exciting part of the day. I played really well and it should have been a lot lower, but that's okay. I've played here a few times, not really played well here actually," Sandhu said. "But honestly, I think I like the looks of it. Because there's a lot of dog legs and stuff to shape it around. Hopefully the wind picks up so it becomes a bit tougher.

"Yeah, I mean, I like the layout for sure. I haven't had a good result so far but I've been feeling positive especially in this stretch. I've had some good rounds, but haven't been able to finish it off. Like last week in Japan, I was playing well and then I had a bad round." Thailand's Danthai Boonma is tied for fifth with Chinese Taipei's Wang Wei-lun and Lin Yung-lung.

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