January 23, 2009
THE sky remained clear and sunny and the much-dreaded wind showed mercy thus setting the stage for a prefect day of golf.
Taking full advantage of this, Thailand’s Nirat Chapchai, put his disappointing show at the Abu Dhabi Championship behind and led the Asian charge in the Commercialbank Qatar Masters, presented by Dolphin Energy, with a three-under-par-72 at the end of round one here at the Doha Golf Course.
Asian No 1 Jeev Milkha Singh, Jyoti Randhawa and Shiv Kapur also excelled with some impressive performances. Singh finished on two-under-par, while Randhawa and Kapur settled for one-under and even par respectively.
From the remaining Asians in the fray, only Prayad Marksaeng could make his presence felt by finishing on par. His compatriot Thongchai Jaidee, who showed lot of promise in Abu Dhabi with a joint 13th place with Phillip Archer of England, shot four over. India’s S.S.P Chowrasia also has lot of catching up to do after a forgettable day with a three-above-par.
Singh, who teed off with Ernie Els and European No 1 Robert Karlsson from hole ten, was off to a great start over the first nine with birdies on the 10th, 13th and 16th holes. However, a bogie at 14th saw him finish two-under. In the return nine, Jeev bogeyed in the fourth but drew level with a birdie in the ninth to finish on par for a total of 70.
“I played well today. Rolled it well and with two-under in the first round, I’m happy. I could have done much better at the par five today. The weather was perfect for us. I haven’t played for a while so got the rust off and now have to make the most of it in the next few days,” said a visibly pleased Jeev after his outing.
Karlsson of Sweden was best among the troika with a stunning four-under-par while Els stayed on level terms with Jeev with an identical score of two-under.
To start alongside Karlsson and Els was a plus, felt Singh. “It is always good to have a draw with leading players. I have played with them before. When you have players like Els and Karlsson around, it always gets the best out of you,” said Singh, who had finished on joint 29th with compatriot Randhawa at Abu Dhabi.
Chapchai, who too started from the 10th hole, looked all pumped up after pocketing a birdie first up. After completing the next six holes on par, he squandered the one shot edge with a bogie at the 17th.
Staying on par going into the back nine, Chapchai stole four birdies – in the second, fifth, seventh and eighth. With his only bogey coming at the fourth, Chapchai finished on a high with a total of 69.
As the day progressed, the wind did pick up pace and it was bit of a test for the late starters like Kapur and Randhawa.
Delhiite Kapur, who finished a joint 61st at the Abu Dhabi, made a fine recovery on his back nine after being three-above-par at the end of the first nine. Kapur fired two back-to-back birdies in the first two holes and then upped his tempo to grab another in the seventh to stay on par.
“I was a bit frustrated and was agitated as I knew I was not playing badly. And three-over-par after not playing badly in the first nine was disappointing.
“But then I came out of the blocks and birdied in the one and two and that made the difference. Just steadied the ship and later I missed a couple of putts and could have gone under. Hopefully, I will be making the best of the condition of the morning start,” said Kapur.
Randhawa, too, was pretty satisfied with his showing as he was suffering from flu and had taken to the course when the wind was picking up.
“I was not well today. I’m still not at the top of my game but to finish one-under is satisfying. Anytime to get an under-par with wind is okay. Let’s see how things turn up tomorrow,” said Randhawa, who shot a birdie on his last hole to go one-under-par.
