The seasoned campaigner from Calcutta led the field with an excellent card of seven-under 65. Was he satisfied ? Not at all. ``I should have finished 10-under,'' he said. ``My putting was bad.''

Actually, there was little wrong with his putting. He needed just 29 putts to complete the round with seven birdies and not a single bogey. But Firoz, always a hard taskmaster, was obviously referring to the three simple putts he missed on the 8th, 9th and 16th.

Firoz, who teed-off from the 10th, drove, chipped and putted effortlessly and birdied the 12th, 14th and 15th. On the outward journey, he notched up birdies on the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 6th. But the three putts that he missed irked him. In addition, Firoz missed an eagle on the on the par-412th when his pitching wedge from 80 yards hit the flag and rolled for a two-feet birdie putt.

Firoz, 4th in the prize money list of the Indian PGA tour, despite his impressive round, will have to be on his toes if he is to remain a contender for the Rs 1,16,620 first prize. For, as many as four players are just two strokes behind.

Leading scores:
Professionals: 65 Firoz Ali; 67 Arjun Singh, Ali Sher, Vijay Kumar, Gaurav Ghei; 68 Yusuf Ali; 70 Uttam Singh Mundy; 71 Sanjay Kumar, Jyoti Randhawa.

Amateurs: 70 Sandeep Sayal; 77 K V Balachander, S Radhakrishnan.