Atwal leads Tour event with a 7-under 65

NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 10: Reigning Wills Indian Open champion Arjun Atwal shot a seven-under 65 to take sole possession on top of the leader...

NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 10: Reigning Wills Indian Open champion Arjun Atwal shot a seven-under 65 to take sole possession on top of the leaderboard after the first round of the $825,000 Benson & Hedges Malaysian Open, an event co-sanctioned by the European and Asian PGA Davidoff Tour.

According to reports reaching here from Templer Park course in Kuala Lumpur, Atwal enjoyed a one-stroke lead over his three-ball partner, China’s Zhang Lian-Wei, who shot a six-under 66.

For a moment, it seemed Jeev might just spoil Atwal’s day. The Hero Honda-sponsored pro got into a birdie binge as he went sub-par for the third, fifth, sixth and tenth holes to be four-under at that stage. But the birdies dried up for the Chandigarh player, currently ranked 24th in the European Tour Order of Merit. The good part was that he did not make a single bogey and finished the day at four-under 68.

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Among the marquee names, Retief Goosen of South Africa, twice winner on the European Tour last season, shot a 68 and was tied along withJeev and Padraig Harrington of Ireland. Defending champion Gerry Norquist shot a one-under 71, while both Mathias Gronberg and Bernhard Langer shot one-over 73 to be tied for 70th place. Germany’s Alex Cjeka shot a two-over 74 and Kyi Hla Han, Asian PGA Tour Order of Merit winner of last season,made a disastrous start and was 105th with a three-over 75.

SCORES (after 18 holes): 65 — Arjun Atwal (Ind); 66 — Zhang Lian-Wei (PRC); 67 — Mark Mouland (Wal), Thongchai Jaidee (Tha), Ted Purdy (USA), Steen Tinning (Den); 68 — Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind), Boonchu Ruangkit (Tha), Thammanoon Sriroj (Tha), Andrew Butterfield (Eng), Padraig Harrington (Ire), Retief Goosen (RSA), Massimo Scarpa (Ita); 69 — Ian Hutchings (RSA), Park No-Seok (Kor), Scott Taylor (USA)

Other Indians: 72 — Amandeep Johl & Jyoti Randhawa (T-42); Arjun Singh (withdrawn).

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