Amandeep fires 72

Amandeep Johl fired 72 despite an early double bogey while Korean players dominated the leaderboard on the opening day of the $500,000 Maekyung Open here today. Indian participation at the event is down to two, as most of the players returned home after the Philippine Open last week.

Johl, coming back after a break into the tournament, where he was the runner-up two years ago in 2003, was tied 19th. Another Indian in the fray, Shiv Kapur, who in 2002, won the Asian Games gold medal at Busan shot a one-over 73 to be tied 35th.

Johl seemed set for a sub-par finish, before he ended bogeying his last two holes. He had four birdies, on the fourth, ninth, 11th and 16th. He double bogeyed the second and dropped shots on 17th and 18th also.

Kapur had birdies on second and fourth, but then bogeys on seventh and 11th ended that good work. He picked another birdie on the 14th, but dropped shots on 15th and 17th saw him end at one-over.