Thongchai eighth after first round in Abu Dhabi

Thai star Thongchai Jaidee looks determined to start the new season from where he left off in 2006 when he carded a four-under-par 68 in the opening round of the European Tour's Abu Dhabi Championship.

Thongchai, winner of the season-ending Volvo Masters of Asia on home soil last month, fired six birdies against two dropped shots to lie in tied eighth place alongside reigning European number one Padraig Harrington of Ireland.

India's Shiv Kapur made a strong comeback on his back nine with four birdies including three in a row and ended the day at a solid 70.

Asian Tour members, Chinarat Phadungsil of Thailand, England's Yasin Ali and Singaporean number one Mardan Mamat, enjoyed under-par starts with identical 71s for equal 43rd place.

England's Philip Archer shot 10 birdies in a round of 63 to lead by three over a trio of Henrik Stenson, Retief Goosen and Nick Dougherty.

Two other Indians, Jyoti Randhawa (72) and Jeev Milkha Singh (73) had modest starts but will need to come up with good scores to make the weekend cut. Randhawa was tied 63rd and Jeev was tied 78th with the top 65 and ties on Friday set to make the cut.

Kapur said: "It (score) could have been at least two shots better as I missed three opportunities."

Randhawa, who had to enlist a local caddie after his regular bagman and cousin Bunty arrived late due to a visa problem, admitted to some rustiness in his game after the season break. "Bunty should be on the bag tomorrow. I was rusty after the lay-off, maybe things will be better. I was fine in some patches, and then I three-putted twice and went into the water on ninth and needed something like 32 putts for the day," said Randhawa.

Singh, ranked 36th in the world and last year's UBS Order of Merit winner, had a tough day on the greens. "It was frustrating. Frankly I hit the putts very well, but they just did not fall. The birdie on the last was a welcome one," said Singh.

In the second round of the Bob Hope Chrysler Championship on the US PGA Tour, Asian Tour member Andrew Buckle of Australia dropped off the leaderboard after a 73. He started the day in tied 12th place and fell 39 spots down.

Former Asian regular Ted Purdy of the United States charged into contention with a 65 for tied seventh place on 135 while Daniel Chopra of Sweden also moved into tied 10th place following a 67. Korea's Kevin Na was in equal 37th place following a 71. England's Justin Rose and American Scott Verplank lead the 90-hole tournament on 12-under-par 132.

January 18, 2007

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