First Round Report

First Round Scores

Cunning finds form in India

Calcutta, India, 12th March 1998 - America's Mike Cunning rediscovered his form in emphatic fashion today firing a six under par 66 for a two shot lead after the rain-affected first round of the Omega Tour's US$300,000 Classic Indian Open in Calcutta.

The 1997 Omega Order of Merit winner posted seven birdies and a solitary bogey over the challenging 7,165-yard Calcutta Golf Club layout, and heads the leaderboard from Japan's Hiroshi Ueda and Ted Gleasson of America in joint second place.

With a ferocious lightening storm hanging over the Calcutta layout only 72 of the 154-strong field completed their opening account, and the remainder of the field will finish their rounds at first light tomorrow morning.

Cunning, who has been uncharacteristically subdued in his last two Omega Tour events - he missed the cut in the season-d closing Omega PGA Championships last December, and finished tied for 66th spot in last week's London Myanmar Open - gave early notice of his return to form with a 15 foot birdie at the first.

Though the American ace dropped a shot at the third when he drove his ball behind a tree and had to chip out sideways, he made amends with birdies at the fourth, fifth and eighth for an outward 33.

He moved to four under for the day with an 18 foot birdie at the 11th, and rounded off a superb back nine 33 with consecutive birdies at the 15th and 16th.

"I've had a lot of personal matters on my mind recently and this has definitely affected my form in the past couple of Omega events," said Cunning, who had 11 top ten finishes from 17 starts on the 1997 Omega Tour.

"But before I came to Calcutta I spent a couple of days in Bangkok relaxing, sorting out my mind and just attempting to focus on my golf - thankfully it seems to have paid off.

"The course is a lot more challenging than when I was last here in '94 and I was very satisfied with the way I played it. I hit all but two of the fairways, which is vital on this course because of the thick rough, and I only missed four greens.

"I've also made a few alterations to my putting technique, taking less time over the ball than I used to, and this seemed to work today because I took only 26 putts."

Like Cunning, Gleasson displayed impressive accuracy off the tee, finding 12 of the 16 fairways and hitting 13 greens in regulation. Both Gleason and Ueda fired five birdies and one bogey.

"I went out in 36, but on my back half the putts started to drop and I was able to come home in 32," said 27-year-old Gleasson, playing his fourth season in Asia.

"I've not been having too much success for the past few years so it's nice to get off to a good start. Basically I just kept the ball in play and putted well on the back nine."

Local favourite Arjun Atwal, 21st on last year's Omega moneylist, shares fourth place with four other players after firing four birdies and one bogey for an opening 69.

"I'm very satisfied with three under, and it pretty much went according to plan today," said Atwal, who turns 25 next week. "I didn't do anything stupid out there and just focused on making sure I found the fairways. You don't want to be too greedy on this course, especially so early on in the tournament."