Chang has clubhouse lead after 64 at inaugural Bharath Classic
Korean Heemin Chang took the clubhouse lead on day one of the Bharath Classic 2025 Gujarat today at Kensville Golf Resort, near Ahmedabad – remarkably, playing the course for the first time.
He shot an eight-under-par 64 having arrived late last night and unable to play a practice round. He leads from India’s Pukhraj Singh Gill and Korean Wooyoung Cho, who shot 66s.
Ajeetesh Sandhu from India and Chinese-Taipei’s Chan Shih-chang are tied for fourth, following 67s – after the morning session, with half the field still on the course.
This week’s inaugural US$500,000 event is being joint-sanctioned with the newly-launch Indian Golf Premier League Tour. It’s the sixth stop on the Indian Tour but the penultimate tournament of the season on the Asian Tour. It means players are hoping for a good week to make up ground on the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit to secure playing privileges for next year.
“It’s a good result, as it’s my first time here,” said Chang, who is 127th on the Merit list.
“The greens were slower than I expected but I adapted well, and my course management was good.”
He tied for sixth in the Taiwan Glass Taifong Open earlier this year, giving him the belief that a strong finish to the year is possible.
Pukhraj Singh Gill.
He added: “My game has been good lately. It is my first time in India, I came for the experience, I came to win.”
A win would most definitely secure his playing rights for next year in the space of one tournament. It’s the goal of everyone here this week.
Gill has the benefit of arriving here soon after his maiden victory in the pro game. He claimed the IGPL Invitational 2025 Jamshedpur two weeks ago. It was just the fourth leg of the tour and he won it by nine shots. He now sits in second place on the rankings.
He said: “Great first day. I know this course fairly well. We have quite a few tournaments here. It’s been a good track. They’ve had Challenge Tour events in the past, and a lot of main PGTI events. So yes, I think that definitely helped. Yeah, solid off the tee. Great on the green.
“I was very excited for this week, because Asian Tour is back in India after quite some time, and to have it at Kensville is pretty damn good.”
Cho, part of the Korean team that won gold at the Asian Games in 2023, is another player looking for a strong finish to ensure a top-65 finish on the Merit list, to keep his card for next year.
He’s one of Korea’s most exciting young golfers, with great things expected of of him. However, he is currently in 56th on the rankings, after an unexpectedly poor year dogged by putting woes.
“I have had big problems with my putting. Sometimes even four putts, a lot of three putts,” he explained
Like Chang he tied for sixth in Taifong thanks to vastly better form on the short grass.
“I changed to a new putter that week and I am still using it. I am much more hopeful now of playing better,” he added.
Pictured by Jaydeep Singh Jadeja/Asian Tour.
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