Randhawa starts off well with a seven under 65

The top Indian contender and crowd favourite Jyoti Randhawa didn't disappoint anyone as he once again read the greens of his favourite Delhi Golf club quite well and established a fine two stroke lead with a score of seven under 65 on day one of the Emaar-MGF Indian Masters here on Thursday.

Another PGTI member Shiv Kapur also made a fabulous start to be at tied fourth with a first round score of four under 68. C Muniyappa was the third PGTI member who ended the day in the top ten. He was tied seventh at three under 69 helped on his way by a hole-in-one on the 12th.

Englishman Richard Finch and Ireland’s Damien McGrane share second place after having shot rounds of five under 67. World No. 4 Ernie Els was a big disappointment on Thursday as he carded three over 75 for tied 77th place.

Ernie made five birdies, four bogeys and a frustrating 9 on the 18th. He struggled on the course whom he felt that it would suit him more before the start of the event as his second and fourth shots landed in the bushes on 18th hole.

Jyoti Randhawa had a great ouitng as he came out firing on all cylinders at one of his favourite venues, the Delhi Golf Club, where he won his last title in October 2007 (Hero Honda Indian Open).

His fantastic bogey-free round saw him make birdies on the third, sixth and 12th and eagles on the 14th and 18th. He looked relaxed throughout his round smiling his way to the top of the leaderboard.

“I can’t ask for a better round. I’ve played well here in the past having won a few tournaments. I just thought of what I did a few years back or a few months back and that always helps me,” said Randhawa.

“The new bunker on the 18th has made it a very narrow hole. Then when I saw Mark and Adam hit the ball to the right, I thought it’s better to lay up short. I hit a perfect second 3-wood to about 15, 20 feet, and luckily Mark was putting before me so I saw the line. This helped me make the putt spot on,” added Randhawa.

Playing at his home course, Kapur sank seven birdies and three bogeys in the first round. He had an eventful first nine. Kapur picked up a birdie on the 11th and then dropped back with consecutive bogeys on the 12th and 13th. He came back strongly with back to back birdies on the 14th and 15th. This was followed by a bogey on the 16th and a birdie on the 17th.

The 2005 Asian Tour Rookie of the Year backed up this effort with a solid front nine where he made birdies on the fourth, eighth and ninth. Kapur currently shares the fourth spot along with two others, Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn and Spaniard Jose Manuel Lara.

“It was a pretty scratchy round. I managed to pull a 68 out of nothing really. I started off on the back nine and it was quite a seesaw. Wasn’t really settled in and I wasn’t swinging too well. Four under 68 is still a good start but just the way I played, making seven birdies, I would have hoped for a better round,” said Kapur.

PGTI member C Muniyappa’s first round effort of three under 69 included an amazing hole-in-one on the 12th, four birdies, one bogey and one double bogey.

Arjun Atwal, SSP Chowrasia, Harmeet Kahlon and Digvijay Singh shot rounds of two under 70 to be in tied 17th. Rahil Gangjee and Ashok Kumar were tied 39th at even par 72.

Gaurav Ghei’s three over 75 placed him tied 77th while Jeev Milkha Singh’s disappointing 77 placed him tied 103rd.