New Delhi, September 28: Vijay Kumar started his title defence in style with a five-under par 67 to take the lead after the first round of the Honda Siel-Nike PGA Championship, which got underway at the Delhi Golf Course today. Birdies on the first, fifth, 11th, 12th and 14th and a sole eagle on the par-five eighth made up for the two bogies on the par-four second and ninth holes, as he took a one-stroke lead over Swedish Daniel Chopra, Feroze Ali and Rajesh Rawat all of whom were tied at 68. Daniel's performance was even more exceptional after a triple-bogey seven carded on the difficult par-four ninth. "I hit one bad drive today and it was on the ninth," said the Japanese Tour player who also holed a spectacular second shot on the 13th for his sole eagle in the round. Feroz Ali is also getting into the groove for the weekend. The 1998 Wills Indian Open champion who has a history for starting strongly will be looking to improve his game plan and increase the pressure over the next three rounds. The small-built SSP Chowrasia, whose biggest moment of glory came at the 1999 Wills Indian Open where he finished runner-up alongwith low-profiled Rajesh Rawat, enjoyed 18 holes of good golf. While Rawat carded a bogey-free round, Chowrasia shot a 69 and but was still not happy with his game. "My game is still not what I would like it to be. I will only think about my chances after the second round," he said, reflecting on his chances this week. The tournament favourite, Jyoti Randhawa was almost invisible all day and carded an average round of two-under par. Also tied at two-under 70 are Delhi's Gaurav Ghei, amateur Amit Luthra alomgwith Calcutta golfer and two-time Honda Siel champion Uttam Singh Mundy. Seven golfers tied at one-under-par after today's round. Most prominent among them is former cricket coach Kapil Dev, who shot his best round of tournament golf early this morning. Kapil also created a flutter on the par-five 18th as he drove off the tee with a one iron, hit a second shot,four iron, to about four feet and holed his putt to wrap up with an eagle. Meanwhile, last season's leading and almost unbeatable amateur, Amish Jaitha also shot a 71 to tie with professional compatriots Digvijay Singh, Ali Sher, Dinesh Kumar, Rafiq Ali and Yusuf Ali. Another pre-tournament favourite Arjun Atwal had quite a mixed round today and started with a bogey on the first. Two-over after nine holes, he made birdies 10, 14 and 18 with a bogey on 16 to finish level par for the day. Scores: 67: Vijay Kumar; 68: Danile Chopra, Feroz Ali, Rajesh Rawat; 69: SSP Chowrasia; 70:Amit Luthra, Gaurav Ghei, Jyoti Randhawa, Uttam Singh Mundy; 71: Ali Sher, Amish Jaitha, Digvijay Singh, Dinesh Kumar, Kapil Dev, Rafiq Ali, Yusuf Ali; 72: Arjun Atwal, Devendra Patel, Hari Ram, Mukesh Kumar, Rohtas Singh, Sanjay Kumar, Vinod Kumar.
