INDIAN MASTERS RELATED STORIES EMAAR-MGF Indian Masters home page EMAAR-MGF Indian Masters Preview Round 1: Delhi specialist Randhawa grabs two shot lead Round 2: McGrane leads as local challenge falters Round 3: Jacquelin leads, but Els lurks four back Round 4: Chowrasia is the Indian Master Final Scores & Prize Money About the Delhi Golf Club course Els feels at home on Delhi's fairways Prayad begins Masters preparation in India Els and Atwal win curtain-raiser Indian golf is in the fast lane, says Jeev Old hands looking to end title drought Public to get free entry to Indian Masters Indian Masters to showcase local talent Atwal back to action in Indian Masters European & Asian Tours agree on Indian Masters Rapid growth makes golf India's second most favourite sport Full details of Delhi Golf Club ASIAN GOLF TODAY TOP STORIES Ben Leong claims maiden victory PGA: Jeev and Wi tie for ninth Prom targets Thai win in Brunei Shin Ji-yai takes Women's British Open Asian Tour starts 2nd half on a high Norman to play 2009 Johnnie Walker Mission Hills to host AP Summit GOLF TODAY TOP STORIES Last chance to impress at Gleneagles New FedExCup points method causing surprises Vijay Singh looking forward to Deutsche Bank Players surprised by LPGA "English" rule Ryder Cup race ends at Gleneagles Tiger Woods won't swing a club till 2009

Delhi specialist Randhawa grabs two shot lead

Indian star Jyoti Randhawa renewed his love affair with the Delhi Golf Club when he blasted a seven-under-par 65 for the opening round lead at the EMAAR-MGF Indian Masters on Thursday.

Randhawa, who has won five times on the historical course, enjoyed a two stroke lead thanks to an eagle on the final 18th hole at the US$2.5 million Asian Tour and European Tour event.

Englishman Richard Finch was in joint second place alongside Ireland’s Damien McGrane who shot matching 67s. Local hotshot Shiv Kapur was in a tie for fourth position when he posted a 68 together with Danish star Thomas Bjorn and Spain’s Jose Manuel Lara.

Thai young gun Chinnarat Phadungsil was among those in tied seventh position alongside India’s Chinnaswamy Muniyappa who was all smiles after firing a hole-in-one at the 188 yards 12th hole.

Randhawa, the former Asian number one, was three under after 12 holes but his eight foot putt for eagle on the 14th hole placed him among the leaders before his breakaway finish on the final hole.

“The 18th hole was nice. I laid up with a three-wood and hit another three-wood. I hit a perfect second three-wood to about 15 to 20 feet, and luckily Mark (O’Meara) was putting before me so I saw the line. I knew it was going to break right-to-left, and after seeing his ball, I knew exactly how it was going to break.

“It was go to school and learn from others and I made that putt spot on and at perfect speed and perfect putt, it was great,” said Randhawa, who is gunning for his third straight triumph on the same venue where he had won the 2006 and 2007 Hero Honda Indian Open.

“Delhi Golf Club, what can I say, it doesn't leave me alone. It keeps me under pressure all the time. I played well. You can't ask for a better round the first round. I’m very happy with it,” added the leader.

Irishman McGrane was pleased to stay among the frontrunners after a 67 while Kapur stayed on course in joint fourth as he posted seven birdies against three dropped shots.

“I'm actually pretty proud of myself that I hung in there. Things were not going my way for the first sort of six or seven holes, I was actually over par at one stage. It's just one of those things that you learn in competitive golf that you have to learn how to grind it out, even when you don't have your A Game, you have to learn to post a score and I managed to do that,” said Kapur, the 2005 Asian Tour’s Rookie of the Year.

Thai young gun Chinnarat believes that the time spent with his parents on course during the year end break has helped him pull through a solid round today in a tie for seventh spot.

“I have been playing golf with my parents. My mom (Noo) and dad (Anan) are both single handicappers so playing with them help keep my game in check. My dad also gives me tips about course management every single time we play together so that helps the mental aspect of my game on how to tackle a golf course,” said Chinnarat.

South African star Ernie Els endured a slow start after a 75 in joint 77th position alongside Korea’s Lee Sung and India’s Gaurav Ghei.

Leading first round scores (click here for full 1st round leaderboard):

65 - Jyoti Randhawa (IND)
67 - Richard Finch (ENG), Damien Mcgrane (IRL)
68 - Jose Manuel Lara (ESP), Thomas Bjorn (DEN), Shiv Kapur (IND)
69 - David Lynn (ENG), Hendrik Buhrmann (RSA), Mark O'Meara (USA), Graeme Mcdowell (NIR), C Muniyappa (IND), Raphael Jacquelin (FRA), Alvaro Quiros Garcia (ESP), Chinnarat Phadungsil (THA), Maarten Lafeber (NED), Benn Barham (ENG)
70 - Keith Horne (RSA), Simon Yates (SCO), Harmeet Kahlon (IND), Sam Little (ENG), S.S.P Chowrasia (IND), Magnus A Carlsson (SWE), Arjun Atwal (IND), Digvijay Singh (IND), Henrik Nystrom (SWE), Simon Khan (ENG), Suk Jong-yul (KOR)
71 - Stephen Gallacher (SCO), Ross Bain (SCO), Prom Meesawat (THA), Mikael Lundberg (SWE), Mark Brown (NZL), Fabrizio Zanotti (PAR), Oliver Wilson (ENG), Scott Hend (AUS), Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (FRA), Unho Park (AUS), Christian Cevaer (FRA)

February 7, 2008