The Hindu : Sport / Golf : Randhawa in joint second place, Jeev ninth

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Saturday, Jul 07, 2007
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Sport - Golf

Randhawa in joint second place, Jeev ninth

Kildare (Ireland): Jyoti Randhawa shot a flawless five-under 65 to position himself in tied second place after the opening round at the Smurfit Kappa European Open here.

Compatriot Jeev Milkha Singh also had a fine day with a three-under 67, that had just one bogey. He was tied for ninth spot.

However, Shiv Kapur, the third Indian in the fray, struggled with a nine-over 79 that set him way back in the field.

Dutchman Maarten Lafeber shot a six-under 64 to lead the field. He had skipped the practice round after playing a two-round Open qualifier earlier.

Randhawa was tied with three others — Niclas Fasth of Sweden, winner of the recent BMW International Open, Frenchman Grigory Havret and England’s Robert Rock.

Great season

Randhawa is already enjoying his best ever season on the European Tour where he already has six top-10 finishes, including a second. His first round performance at the rain-hit K Club has given him another opportunity for a breakthrough win.

The Indian, who also played a 36-hole British Open qualifier at Sunningdale but failed to make it to Carnoustie, also chose to skip the practice round to get some rest.

It paid dividends, as he made good use of the shortened holes and preferred lies to card a fine score.

Randhawa started sedately on the 10th and parred the first six holes, before finding birdies on 15th and 17th. On the second stretch, he birdied the sixth and eagled the par-five seventh before finishing with two more pars.

Last week, Randhawa was seventh at the Open de France and this season his best has been a second place finish at the Open de Espana. — PTI

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