The Hindu : Sport / Golf : Randhawa tied 9th, Jeev 37th

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jul 15, 2006

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Sport - Golf

Randhawa tied 9th, Jeev 37th

Loch Lomond (Scotland ): Jyoti Randhawa, for once, stole the limelight from Jeev Milkha Singh (71) as he carded an impressive three-under 68 to be tied for the ninth spot after the opening round of the £2.4 million Scottish Open here.

Randhawa gave a sizzling display as he fired six birdies against a bogey and a double-bogey to be just three shots off the pace of leaders Sweden's Johan Edfors and Scot David Drysdale.

Jeev, meanwhile, was on the tied 37th spot after a hat-trick of bogeys in the back-nine spoiled his otherwise good performance.

Randhawa was definitely the brighter of the two Indian stars at the event as he fired four birdies — including three consecutive — in his front nine as against a solitary bogey to start off brilliantly.

Three-under at the halfway mark, Randhawa could have improved further — especially after gaining a shot on the 10th — but a double-bogey on the 11th pulled him back. He made up for the lapse with a birdie on the 17th to end the day in a position of strength.

Jeev disappoints

Jeev, however, would be disappointed with his performance in the back nine.

At the top of the leaderboard, Edfors and Drysdale have a single shot lead over Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke and Englishman Miles Tunnicliff.

Chopra joint leader

At the John Deere Classic Silvis, Illinois, Indian-born Swede Daniel Chopra shot a flawless seven-under 64 to be the joint leader while it was another woeful start for Arjun Atwal as he carded a level-par opening round to share the 93rd spot.

Chopra fired five birdies and an eagle to be in joint lead with Americans JP Hayes and Zach Johnson and Australian John Senden.

Atwal hit two birdies and an equal number of bogeys to be even-par but remains in contention to make the cut in the event.

Wie struggles

Meanwhile, Michelle Wie, the 16-year-old school girl who is attempting to make the cut at the event, found herself completely out of sorts as she struggled to a six-over 77 to be tied 149th after the first round. The local teenager hit six bogeys and a double-bogey against just two birdies and is unlikely to make the cut in the tournament. — Agencies

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