Indian golfer SSP Chowrasia plays a shot during McLeod Russel Tour Championship 2013 at Professional Golf Tour of India Tournament in Kolkata on Thursday. PTI Kolkata: Guess what slumped defending champion SSP Chowrasia to a poor 50th place on the leaderboard on the opening day of the PGTI Year-Ending Championship at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club -- a big sleeping snake!
On par after seventh hole, SSP's drive on the trickiest eighth hole went into the red line area -- called 'lateral water hazard' where the scary sight of a coiled snake sleeping in the bushes greeted the reigning champion.
For the two-time European Tour winner who knows the RCGC course inside out, it was not a scary sight though. But having hit into the lateral water hazard, he missed the ball and he was penalised one stroke to finish the eighth hole with a double bogey.
As per the rule, SSP had two options, either to take a fresh tee, or take the shot from a position about two club lengths from the ball's 'point of entry'. SSP chose for the latter only to complete the eighth hole with two-over, a mental setback that affected the 35-year-old's progress.
"Aaj sab kuch hi bura hua hai. Jungle bhi ghoom liya, bahut kuchh dekhna pada mujhe (Nothing went in my favour today. I had to go into the jungle, see many things)," he said referring to the snake.
"It was not scary. It was not a first time that I saw a snake here. But it was difficult to come back from there on as I was under real pressure," Chowrasia lamented. Chowrasia finished three over 75 on a day when Anirban Lahiri eying a first at the RCGC, led the charts with six under 66.
But the defending champion said there's a lot of action left in the McLeod Russel Tour Championship offering Rs 1.35 crore highest ever in a PGTI tournament in India.
"We still have three more days' action left. Anything can happen, the course will play hard. I still have a chance to comeback," Chowrasia added.
Lahiri takes day one honours
Meghna Bal registered her first amateur victory at the Western India Ladies Amateur tournament at the age of 15. The pretty Meghna Bal turned professional in 2011. 
Meghna Bal represented India at the 2006 Doha Asian Games, where she finished 11-under-par and finished in the top 10 in the four-day event. Talking about her Doha experience, Meghna was quoted as saying, “I fed off the energy of the players I saw in Doha. It was an experience to see some of the players you admire doing what they do best with such focus.”Delhi-based Meghna Bal finished third at the DLF Women’s Indian Open, 2007, an event on the Asian Tour calendar, while she was still an amateur.Anisha Padukone, daughter of badminton great Prakash Padukone and younger sister to Bollywood star Deepika Padukone, is an upcoming golfer. She chose golfer rather than badminton which her dad and popular sister has played. Anisha Padukone tried her hands in cricket, hockey, tennis and badminton. But it is golf that attracted her most. She started playing golf at the age of 12.Anisha Padukone holds the honours for the longest drive in the silver division in the first round of the Indian Golf Union categorised Madras Ladies Golf championship. In the recently concluded Usha Ladies Open Amateur golf championship, Aditi Ashok came just short of retaining her title, losing out to another young golfer Gurbani Singh. Aditi Ashok's first win created a record. By winning the bronze title at the 91st All India Ladies Amateur Golf Open Championship in 2008, she became the youngest at the age of nine years to achieve this title. Ankita Tiwana was adjudged the Women’s Golf Association of India 'Rookie of the Year' for 2011-12. She turned pro in 2011. Royal Calcutta Golf Club is her favourite course. Ankita had a third-place finish in the 10th leg of the Hero women’s professional golf championship at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club. Ankita finished sixth on the season-ending money list to bag the WGAI honour.Ankita is a Delhi-based golfer. She is a die-hard fan of Tiger Woods and loves watching Rory McIlroy play golf and admires Smriti Mehra for her attitude. Other than golf, Ankita's interests include dancing, eating and playing. She was a 100m sprinter and intend to do Masters in the US where she can play golf in a lot of mini-tours. Gauri Monga was recently in news when she won the Usha IGU Southern India Ladies on June 12. Nalini Singh Siwach was the only woman golfer selected for 'Mission Olympics', an initiative of the Indian Army to hone talented sportspersons through training and funds.Nalini won in the gross category of the SAARC Championship, besides being part of the winning team, and was runner up at the Northern India Ladies and the Sri Lankan Amateur Championship.Nalini won three tournaments in Hero Women’s Professional Golf Tour 2011-12. Nalini turned professional in 2007. She has been one of the upcoming female golfers in the country. Neha Tripathi turned pro in September 2009. She was the winner of KGA Leg held in Bangalore in Hero Women’s Professional Golf Tour 2011-12. She participated in Women’s Indian Open 2011 and ended up at tied 49th place. Kolkata golfer Neha Tripathi played a superb final round to edge past overnight leader Vani Kapoor to seal another victory in the Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour 2013. This victory in the sixth leg is the third of the season for Neha and with this she overtakes Smriti Mehra in the Hero Order of Merit 2013. Shradhanjali Singh turned professional in 2010 when she finished fifth in the Women’s Golf Association of India Tour (12th Leg) in Mumbai. Shradhanjali was part of the Indian team for the biggest ladies’ amateur golf tourney in Asia-Pacific, the Queen Sirikit Tournament in Australia (2006) and Japan (2010), and also found an edge in her golfing career during her stay in the United States as a college undergrad.Shradhanjali is India’s 21st professional woman golfer and Jharkhand’s first. She wishes to compete in European and Asian circuits and dreams of playing in the prestigious Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour. For Vani Kapoor, golf happened to her because of her father. She started playing golf in order to spend more time with her dad, who was an avid golfer, and soon she got hooked to the sport. Now, she says she can't imagine her life without golf. Vani won Southern India Open amateur Championship 2009 and 2010 and Noida Ladies Open Amateur Championship 2009, among her many achievements. She finished top in the Order of Merit in the 2009/2010.Vani also played in international events such as the Queen Sirikit Cup 2009 and 2010 at Bali and New Zealand, and World Juniors Golf Championship 2009 at Jarkarta. Vani was quoted as saying, "I have achieved this in short span of time, so being amongst the top women golfers in the country means a lot."How can we not include the beautiful Indian golfer Sharmila Nicollet in this list. Sharmila stands out not just as one of the leading Indian golfers but also as one of the beauties to watch out for in the golf course. Sharmila turned professional in 2009 when she was just 18 years old and since then there has been no looking back for her. Sharmila Nicollet has too many firsts' to her name. She is the youngest Indian golfer to qualify for European Tour. She is the second Indian to earn a full card on the Ladies European Tour. She has represented India at the Asian Games at Doha 2006 and in Asia Pacific Junior Golf Tournament, played at the Callaway World Junior Amateur Championship in San Diego. She recently participated in the qualifying round of European professional golf and is on the right track to break into the big league. She is bold, beautiful and never misses to make a style statement of her own while on a golf course. The shutter bugs love clicking her and she enjoys the attention too. 
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