Lahiri finishes in near darkness at even par at International Series India, Chacarra leads with 68

Gurugram, Jan 30 (PTI) Golfer Anirban Lahiri holed a par putt in near darkness to card an even-par round and emerge as the best-placed Indian at Tied-13th on the opening day of the International Series India, which was disrupted by a fog delay.

Lahiri's four birdies were neutralised by two bogeys and a double bogey.

"I think that was one of the nicest cheers I’ve ever got on the first tee. That was very special. Please continue to come out. That was a wonderful feeling," Lahiri said.

"The atmosphere was electric. I think there were a few of us Indians standing on the putting green waiting to tee off, saying, 'Man, we have not felt this in the air for so long’. So, hats off to everyone for that." As many 14 groups were yet to finish as play was delayed by about 40 minutes due to morning fog. They had between two and seven holes to go and will return on Friday morning to complete the round.

Gaganjeet Bhullar's first day was a tale of two contrasting halves. Starting with two bogeys in the opening three holes, Bhullar was 3-over for his first nine holes which was on the back nine of the DLF golf course. He fought back to finish the day at 1-over 73.

Bhullar, whose 11 Asian Tour titles is the highest by any Indian, fought back superbly with three birdies over the last six holes on the front side of the Gary Player layout.

"It was good to get those (birdies) close to the finish. The course set-up was challenging and there was a lot of head wind at some of the holes, too. I also missed a few fairways," Bhullar, who took 29 putts for the round, said.

Ajeetesh Sandhu birdied the 15th and parred the last three holes in fading light to join Bhullar at 1-over at a provisional T-21.

Other Indian scores included Jeev Milkha Singh at par after playing with an injured finger, which he suffered while playing with his dog. He had six holes left.

Rahil Gangjee (75), SSP Chawrasia were 3-over through 16, Manu Gandas was also 3-over through 11, Karandeep Kochhar was 4-over through 12.

Shiv Kapur and amateur Kartik Singh finished 5-over as Shubhankar Sharma, Rashid Khan and Yuvraj Sandhu were 6-over for the day.

Abhinav Lohan was 7-over and Honey Baisoya was 12-over and both had six holes left to play on Friday morning.

Spaniard Eugenio Chacarra shot a superb 4-under despite a triple bogey and two other bogeys to take the lead.

The 22-year-old started from the tenth and ran into a triple bogey on Par-4 13th, his fourth. He bogeyed 14th and then birdied three in a row before dropping yet another bogey. He turned in 2-over 38, but there were no more bogeys.

He birdied the first, third, fourth, seventh and had a superb eagle on par-5 eighth for a six-under on the front nine for an eventful and colourful 68.

Also, at 4-under was Kazuki Higa, who had two more holes to go.

Bryson DeChambeau who teed off with what may have been the loudest roar heard in Indian golf, was 2-under through 16 holes.

At one stage he was four-under through the front nine which included a chip-in for an eagle on the Par-5 eighth. On the back nine he had three bogeys and one birdie and was 2-under, alongside Joaauin Nieman, who was also in his group.

Lahiri, while commenting on his play said, “I think I played pretty terribly. I hit my irons all over the place and did not have a half decent look at birdie till the ninth.

"I scrambled really well today. Didn't have my best. I just need to keep playing to get into rhythm, where you start seeing shots and feeling shots and shaping shots.

"It was a bit lacking. There were times when I hit it good. But I'm very happy with the way I dug my heels. Had a couple of places where I gave away some shots, but that can happen here on a course like DLF. Some extreme tough pin positions out there. But, you have to expect that.” PTI COR APA