Scot Yates fires four-under

CALCUTTA, MARCH 11: The temperature hovered around 38 degrees celsius throughout the day. The heat was relentless and the humidity as hig...

CALCUTTA, MARCH 11: The temperature hovered around 38 degrees celsius throughout the day. The heat was relentless and the humidity as high as in peak summer. The professional golfers for the Wills Indian Open, particularly those who played in the afternoon, would gladly have been anywhere except the Royal Calcutta Golf Club course. The early summer was quite unexpected, but the pros got down to their task in right earnest. The first day of the India Open did produce its share of excitement. The ones that come in mind are Ranjit Singh’s up and down’ performance and Jyoti Randhawa’s remarkable birdie on the seventh.

Scotland’s Simon Yates returned the best score at four under 68 after the first round of the Indian Open at the RCGC here today. Yates, who was 26th on the Order of Merit at the end of 1998, had six birdies and two bogies over the 18 holes. He saved two strokes each on the front nine and the back nine.

Korea’s Kang Wook-Song, the Asian PGA tour leader last year, USA’s Aaron Meeks and his countryman Scott Taylor shared the second spot with three under 69.

Story continues below this ad

The Indian challenge received a jolt in the morning when Vijay Kumar pulled out after four holes owing to a shoulder injury. Kumar had missed the pro-am yesterday. Malaysia’s P Gunasegaran and Robert Huxtable of the USA also pulled out of the high profile meet.

However, Jyoti Randhawa, one of the contenders here, brought in a two under 70 to warm the Indian hearts. He is placed third with four others. Gaurav Ghei, Balbir Singh and SSP Chowrasia are a stroke behind. Basad Ali, Arjun Atwal, Indrajit Bhalotia, Ali Sher and Asgar Ali are playing at level par. Reigning champion Feroz Ali is one over 73 in spite of an eagle on fourth. The par five hole is quite a difficult one, and Ali, a native on the course, did well to save two stroke on it. However, bogies on the 6th, 7th, 10th, 15th and the 18th put him in the lower part of the scoresheet.

The misfortune of the day has to be Ranjit Singh who had five birdies in the first five holes and returned a round of 32 in the front nine. However, after missing a two-foot putt on the 17th which would have resulted in a par for the hole, he inexplicably practiced the put again. He was penalised two strokes, which resulted in a triple bogey for the hole. He did recover with a birdie on the 18th, but ended the day with one over 73.

Randhawa, after a bogey on the sixth, looked set to get another on the seventh by overshooting the green. With the ball in a very difficult position, Randhawa chipped one straight into the hole for a six-foot putt, earning him a remarkable birdie instead. He got two more birdies on the back nine to return with two under.

Story continues below this ad

Among the amateurs, Amish Jaitha is at one over 73 while Harmeet Kahlon dropped two strokes to end the day at two over 74. Kapil Dev, in his first Indian Open, played a poor round of golf to finish at 13 over 85.

As per the indications, the cut, which will be made at the end of the second round, should be at five or six over. The top 60 and all the golfers who tie at 60 will get into the third round and will be eligible for a share of the prize money.