Randhawa scrambles to one-over-par

The 28-year-old Indian found trouble at the dense rough on the leftside of the fairway rather than the infamous road that hugs the back of the green.

Randhawa hacked his second into the television stand to eventually pencil down a bogey five. The Indian’s effort was a creditable one considering the toughness of course where even the defending champion Paul Lawrie (six-over-par 78) struggled to come to terms with it.

Randhawa is placed joint 77th after the first round with the likes of Swede Jesper Parnevik, Miguel-Angel Jimenez of Spain also in the same bus.

He started his round at 3.30 pm local time on Thursday but finished just after 9 pm in a first round that was prolonged by slow play.

“I struggled a little bit. It’s like my bed time right now,” said Randhawa.

Among the four Asian PGA players, Randhawa is placed third behind Kyi Hla Han (71) of Myanmar and Briton Simon Dyson (72).

Han the 1999 Order of Merit winner shot brilliantly to be tied for 40th position while Dyson is on 64th.

Current APGA Tour Order of Merit leader Yeh Wei-Tze of Taiwan (77) had a forgetable round of five-over-par.

Randhawa conceded that he made a mental error at the 17th when he hooked his drive into trouble. It came just after an eight- footer for birdie at the previous hole, which took him back to level par for the day.

Clearly dazed by the occasion, Randhawa said: “At 17th, I was feeling sleepy and couldn’t concentrate. I made a mental error there. I’ve got to shoot the daylights out tomorrow to have a chance to make the cut, which could be three or four under par.”