Craig Lee leads Scots with a 70 in Indian Open
Delhi: Thailand’s Prom Meesawat fired a six-under-par 66 to trail
the first round leader Daniel Im of the United States by one-shot at the
Hero Indian Open on Thursday.
Playing
in the calm morning conditions, Prom produced seven birdies to chase
the 31-year-old Im, who returned with a blemish-free round to lead in
the US$1.66 million event sanctioned by the Asian Tour and
European Tour.
Spaniards
Jorge Campillo and Nacho Elvira also carded 66s to share second place
and stay within striking distance of the leader at the challenging Delhi
Golf Club.
South Korean
rising star Jeunghun Wang, India’s Sanjay Kumar and S.S.P. Chawrasia,
Terry Pilkadaris of Australia and Raphael Jacquelin of France, who aced
the fifth hole with an eight iron, were a further shot back
in tied fifth place.
Reigning
Asian Tour number one and defending champion Anirban Lahiri of India
birdied his closing four holes for a 68 while three-time Major winner
Padraig Harrington of Ireland returned with a disappointing
71.
Without carrying a driver this week, Prom stayed patient and took advantage of his sharp iron play to stay close to the leader.
“It
is another week where I start well again. Everyone knows this golf
course is difficult. I hit a lot of good second shots and put myself in a
good position. My second shots were very sharp today,” said
Prom.
“I
didn’t carry my driver this week and last week you can bomb the course.
You need to be patient here and hit your mid irons good. You can hit
your driver but if you miss the fairway, you can lose two or
three shots,” he explained.
Playing
for the first time at the Delhi course, Korean-American Im chipped in
for birdie in his opening hole and made important up-and-downs to stay
bogey-free.
“There
were a couple of times where I almost walked away with a bogey. I was
just cool. I’ve heard about this golf course so many times prior to this
trip. I came in with a bit of respect. I showed some respect
and got some respect back,” said Im, a winner on the Challenge Tour.
Lahiri,
a seven-time Asian Tour winner, produced a birdie flourish to end the
opening round in style after struggling with his irons. “I was very
inconsistent with my iron play to start with. Then I broke
it down and tried to focus on the routine and it worked,” he said.
“I
told my caddie I haven’t played badly but I was five or six behind and
the guys up there had made a fast start. The key was to stay in touch
somehow. You don’t want to go too far behind, so I needed to
gain some ground and stay in touch,” added Lahiri.
Harrington,
making his first appearance in India since 1992,
will need to overcome his slow start after dropping a shot the last hole
to sit in tied 40th position.
“I
created problems on the greens. I could see at times I was a bit
aggressive on a few tee boxes and got away with that. I might need to be
a little bit more conservative for the next few rounds.
“Finishing
with a bogey isn’t a great thing. I would have been happier if I was
three or four-under. That’s where I felt I should have been. We have
another 54 holes to go so it is a steady start but nothing
too spectacular,” said Harrington.
FIRST ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 72. Yardage 6,983
65 - Daniel IM (USA).
66 - Prom MEESAWAT (THA), Jorge CAMPILLO (ESP), Nacho ELVIRA (ESP).
67 - Sanjay KUMAR (IND), Jeunghun WANG (SKOR), S.S.P CHAWRASIA (IND), Terry PILKADARIS (AUS), Raphael JACQUELIN (FRA).
68
- Honey BAISOYA (IND), Anirban LAHIRI (IND), Alejandro CANIZARES (ESP),
Gregory HAVRET (FRA), Tommy FLEETWOOD (ENG), Wade ORMSBY (AUS).
69
- Sebastien GROS (FRA), Thangaraja N. (SRI), David LIPSKY (USA), Rahil
GANGJEE (IND), Vikrant CHOPRA (IND), Siddikur RAHMAN (BAN), Rashid KHAN
(IND), Maximilian KIEFFER (GER).
70
- Shankar DAS (IND), Craig LEE (SCO), Thanyakon KHRONGPHA (THA), Paul
PETERSON (USA), Romain WATTEL (FRA), Chapchai NIRAT (THA), Miguel
TABUENA (PHI), Chris PAISLEY (ENG), Ben EVANS (ENG), Danny CHIA (MAS),
Arjun ATWAL (IND), Julien QUESNE (FRA), Pablo LARRAZABAL (ESP), Trevor
FISHER JNR (RSA), M DHARMA (IND), Angelo QUE (PHI).
SELECTED SCORE
71 Padraig Harrington (Ire)
72 Peter Uihlein (USA) T54
73 Scott Jamieson (Sco) T75
75 Andrew McArthur (Sco), Marc Warren (Sco) T105
78 Jamie McLeary (Sco) T130
72 Peter Uihlein (USA) T54
73 Scott Jamieson (Sco) T75
75 Andrew McArthur (Sco), Marc Warren (Sco) T105
78 Jamie McLeary (Sco) T130
Labels: ASIAN TOUR
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