Randhawa begins Indian Open defence in style

Joy Chakravarty

Defending champion Jyoti Randhawa and in-form Thai star Thongchai Jaidee were familiar faces on top of a crowded leaderboard after the first round of the $300,000 Wills Indian Open at the Classic Golf Resort on Thursday.

Randhawa and Jaidee shot impressive rounds of five-under-par 67s and were joined by surprise co-leaders, American Jeff Burns and Vivek Bhandari of India, who is coming off an eight-month lay-off following a neck injury.

Burns lost his Davidoff Tour card in his rookie season last year and then missed retaining his full playing privileges by finishing 53rd in the Qualifying School in January where only the top-40 players earned full Tour cards.

With playing conditions almost perfect on Thursday, 46 players broke par. Thailand’s Prayad Marksaeng, South African Nico Van Rensburg, Zaw Moe of Myanmar, Aussie David Gleeson, Andrew Pitts of the United States and Englishman Chris Williams are tied fifth, one shot behind the leaders.

Local hero Firoz Ali, the 1998 Wills Indian Open winner, is amongst the seven players at equal 11th position on three-under-par 69.

Randhawa, who won last year’s title after play-off, was one of the stories of the day. Despite some indifferent results in the past month, he produced an immaculate short game display for his brilliant start.

"I was hardly finding the fairways off the tee and was all over the place. But my sandwedge came in real handy and my putting was not too bad either," said Randhawa who nailed an eagle on the par-5 third hole along with five birdies against two bogeys.

"The truth, though, is that I was lucky today. I played with Nico and he was so solid throughout the round that he was a good example to follow. I just hung in there. This is not the way I would have liked to start the tournament but I am not complaining. Five-under is a good start," added Randhawa, who was second in the Davidoff Tour Order of Merit last season.

Thongchai was delighted with his effort. "I’m aiming for a top-10 finish this week and this is a perfect start. I woke up with a sore back and played the front nine in some pain, but it got a bit better on the return journey," said the former soldier, who finished second at the Thailand Masters, sixth at the Myanmar Open and tied seventh at the Carlsberg Malaysian Open last month.

Bhandari, who finished second on this course in the 1997 Wills Masters, an event on the Wills Sport Indian Golf Tour, enjoyed a bogey free round.

"I was very low on confidence and was doubting my swing after I made my comeback late last year. I felt my game coming together at the Caltex Singapore Masters last month although I missed the cut by one stroke. However, today was a dream round. I putted very well and took just 29 putts. That was the key," said Bhandari who went out in 35, but rolled in four birdies on the back nine.

The lanky Burns was also bogey-free as three birdies and an eagle made it a satisfying day at the office for the 26-year-old.

"I think the Davidoff Tour is the perfect place for a youngster like me. The quality of competition here is very good. I have limited opportunity to play in Asia this season and I want to make the most out of it," said the Texan.

Leading first round scores

67: Jyoti Randhawa (Ind), Vivek Bhandari (Ind), Thongchai Jaidee (Tha), Jeff Burns (USA);

68: Prayad Marksaeng (Tha), Nico van Rensburg (RSA), Chris Williams (Eng), David Gleeson (Aus), Zaw Moe (Myn), Andrew Pitts (USA);

69: Firoz Ali (Ind), Arjun Singh (Ind), Mukesh Kumar (Ind), Kang Ji-man (Kor), Kyle Woodbine (Aus), Gerald Rosales (Phi), Robert Huxtable (USA);

70: Lee Seung-jun (Kor), Rodrigo Cuello (Phi), Keiichi Asano (Jap), Brad Kennedy (Aus), Chawalit Plaphol (Tha), Taimur Hussain (Pak), Park No-seok (Kor), Vijay Kumar (Ind), Harmeet Kahlon (Ind), Indrajit Bhalotia (Ind), Stephen Lindskog (Swe), Chung Joon (Kor), James Kingston (RSA), Lee Seung-Jun (Kor), Lam Chih-Bing (Sin), Song Byung-Joo (Kor);

71: Arjun Atwal (Ind), Rohtas Singh (Ind), Kim Jee-Wong (Kor), Shinichi Akiba (Jap), Haruyuki Tsujimura (Jap), Chen Yuan-Chi (Chi Tai), Hong Chia-Yuh (Chi Tai), Chang Tse-Peng (Chi Tai), Ian Keneddy (RSA), Adam Spring (USA), Will Yanagisawa (USA), Scott Taylor (USA), Ross Bain (Scotland);

72: Amish Jaitha (Ind), SSP Chaurasia (Ind), Shiv Prakash (Ind), Kyi Hla Han (Mya), Gilberto Morales (Ven), Imdad Hussain (Pak), Sammy Daniels (RSA), Craig Kamps (RSA), Wayne Bradely (RSA), Keiichi Moriyama (Jap), Shinnosuke Sakagami (Jap), Sushi Ishigaki (Jap), Takanouske Mori (Jap), Kaotaro Asahara (Jap), Stewart Hardman (Aus), Craig Kamps (RSA)

Note: Due to a technical glitch, the full round one results are not available.