WHITEFORD OPENS AVANTHA MASTERS BID WITH A FOUR-UNDER 68

FROM SKYSPORT.COM

Peter Whiteford has a chance to atone for his Avantha Masters disqualification last year after opening with a four-under 68 at Jaypee Greens in New Delhi today.

The Scot was just one shot off the lead after three holes of the final round at the DLF Golf and Country Club last season when he was informed of an infringement from the previous day.
Television viewers noticed his ball had moved just before he hit his approach to the 18th on day three and he was disqualified for failing to take a penalty drop.
Today Whiteford rolled in birdie putts at the first, fourth, seventh and 16th holes while keeping a bogey off his card, although he is seven behind Chinnarat Phadungsil after the Thai carded an astonishing 61.
"It's easy to forget about last year until guys like you bring it up all the time," Whiteford told European Tour Radio. "It took me a while to get over it if I am being honest.
"It annoyed me for a good few months but that's all forgotten about now and hopefully I can press on."
On his bogey-free opener this year, he added: "I did not play that great off the tee, but if I can keep putting like that you don't have to hit it that close.
"I had a lot of chances and, apart from the 10th where I missed an easy one, every putt had a look (in the hole) on the way by."

 NEWS RELEASE FROM THE ASIAN TOUR

Greater Noida, India: Thailand’s Chinnarat Phadungsil set the stage alight when he opened his campaign at the €1.8 million (approximately US$2.3 million) Avantha Masters with a sensational 11-under-par 61 today.

The 25-year-old was only one shot away from equalling the Asian Tour’s low 18-hole score record as he amassed only 22 putts in his round to take a five-shot lead over five players bunched in second place at the Jaypee Greens Golf Course.

They included Thailand’s Chapchai Nirat and current Order of Merit leader Chawalit Plaphol, India’s Abhijit Chadha, China’s Liang Wen-chong and Sweden’s Magnus A Carlsson who signed for matching 66s at the Indian showpiece which is tri-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, European Tour and Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI).

Chinnarat became the youngest winner on the Asian Tour when he won his first title on home soil in 2005 at the age of 17 years and five days.

Eight years later and armed with three titles on the region’s premier Tour, the 25-year-old continues to create headlines with his performances on the golf course.

“It’s my best-ever round! My previous best was a nine-under par in China in 2007. So it’s definitely a great feeling today,” said Chinnarat

Chinnarat marked his card with three birdies to reach the turn in 33. He then left all his rivals in his wake when he blitzed his outward-nine with an incredible 28.

“On the front nine I was hitting a lot of hook shots, so my putter really saved me. But on the back nine, I drove the ball better and my irons were also better, so that’s the reason why I scored so well,” said Chinnarat.

“Today my game was very good so I will keep going,” added the Thai.

FIRST-ROUND SCORES

Par 72. Yardage: 7,347

61 C Phadungsil  (Tha) 

66 C Plaphol (Tha) , C Nirat (Tha) , M Carlsson  (Swe) , A Chadha (Ind) , L Wenchong (Chn) 

67 S Hend (Aus) , D Drysdale (Sco) , J Makitalo  (Fin) , J Granberg  (Fin) , S Barr (Aus) , T Aiken (RSA) , R Karlberg  (Swe) , R Khan  (Ind) 

68 R Coles (Eng) , M Kieffer (Ger) , B Rumford (Aus) , B Seuk-Hyun (SKor) , E Grillo (Arg) , A Kumar (Ind) , P Meesawat  (Tha) , M Mamat (Sin) , K Aphibarnrat (Tha) , A Lahiri (Ind) , D Howell (Eng), P Whiteford (Sco) , G Bhullar (Ind) , S Chowrasia (Ind) , P Larrazábal (Esp) 

69 T Fleetwood  (Eng) , O Fisher  (Eng) , J Singh (Ind) , R Jacquelin (Fra) , B Åkesson (Swe) , C Kim (USA) , V Dubuisson  (Fra) , R Gonzalez (Arg) , J Quesne  (Fra) , M Baldwin (Eng) , N Fasth (Swe) , D Beck (Aus) , B Henson (USA) , R Gangjee (Ind) , K Broberg (Swe) 

70 F Zanotti (Par) , A Cañizares  (Esp) , A Da Silva (Bra) , A Quiros  (Esp) , T Jaidee (Tha) , M Perera (Sri) , S Khan (Eng) , B Wiesberger  (Aut) , B Ruangkit (Tha) , F Aguilar (Chi) , J Randhawa (Ind) , G Singh (Ind) , M Foster (Eng) , M Jaini (Ind) , C Lee (Sco) , P Waring  (Eng) , D Singh  (Ind) , H Rai (Ind) , L Sung (SKor)

71 K Gi-Whan (SKor), M Warren (Sco), A Que (Phi), J Lara (Esp), R Finch  (Eng) , A Lohan (Ind) , P Hyun-Bin (SKor) , P Junhasavasdikul (Tha) , K Pratt (Aus) , J Knutzon (USA) , A Sullivan (Eng) , G Maybin (Nir) , O Chouhan (Ind) , E Salvador (Phi) ,

72 S Das (Ind) , A Sandhu (Ind) , Z Moe (Mya) , T Levet (Fra) , S Kjeldsen (Den) , A Vongvanij (Tha) , M Ilonen  (Fin) , H Kahlon (Ind) , M Wiegele  (Aut) , L Slattery (Eng) , G Charoenkul (Tha) , R Derksen (Ned) , M Hoey  (Nir) , T Chuayprakong (Tha) , J Bayron (Phi) , D Horsey (Eng) , A Rohana (Sri) , S Kapur (Ind) , K Tannin  (Tha) , G Havret  (Fra) , V Chopra (Ind) , S Kumar (Ind) , G Ghei (Ind) , E Molinari  (Ita) , M Kumar (Ind) , M Both (Aus) , I Garrido (Esp) , A Malik (Ind) , A Lascuna (Phi) , C Kumar (Ind) , J Kruger (RSA) 

 73 A Kang (USA) , M Lafeber (Ned) , J Moore  (USA) , J Gonnet  (Fra) , P Pittayarat (Tha) , D Chopra (Swe) , J Morrison  (Eng) , N Tantipokhakul (Tha), H Gupta (Ind) , P Lawrie (Irl) , C Cévaër (Fra) , A Hansen (Den) , M Siddikur  (Ban) , S Dyson  (Eng) , D Kataoka (Jpn) , W Ormsby (Aus) , K Joshi (Ind) , M Kobayashi (Jpn) 

 74 G Delhi (Ind) , C Muniyappa (Ind) , G Storm  (Eng) , R Santos  (Por) , K Bhasin (Aus) , P Price (Wal) , J Edfors (Swe) , J Sjöholm (Swe) , S Singh (Ind) , G Bourdy (Fra) , L Gagli  (Ita) , J Luiten (Ned) 

 75 A Tiwana (Ind) , D Lipsky (USA) , M Dharma (Ind) , A Dodt (Aus) , U Park (Aus) , J Campillo (Esp) , M Islam (Ind) , J Colomo  (Esp) 

 76 C Montgomerie  (Sco) , K Samooja (Fin) , V Kumar (Ind) , D Chia (Mas) , F Ali Mollah (Ind) 

 77 R Murthy (Ind) , S Khan (Ind) 

 78 B Fox (USA) 

 ** V Kumar (Ind) , D Gleeson (Aus)