Singapore: Jeev Milkha Singh, who is recovering from a shoulder injury, seemed headed for a flawless day before a late double bogey blotted his card as he finished with a round of five-under 67 on the first day of the Championship at Laguna National here on Thursday.
Lightning and thunder delayed the start by over an hour and by the end 18 players were still to complete their first round, but no less than three Indians came in with five-under scores.
While Jeev and the in-form Anirban Lahiri had completed their rounds, Rahil Gangjee after five birdies still had three holes to complete on Friday. The trio was tied 16th, four shots behind Thailand’s Panuphol Pittayarat, who fired a sparkling nine-under 63 as the players were allowed preferred lies at the $$1.5 million event sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour.
Digvijay Singh and S.S.P. Chowrasia fired four-under 68 each to be tied 26th, while Chiragh Kumar (69) was tied 48th. Things were not as good for Rashid Khan (72), Shiv Kapur (74), Himmat Rai (three-over through 15), and Jyoti Randhawa (77). Quincy Quek kept chase with Panuphol by returning with a 64 to share second place with Scotland’s Scott Jamieson, American-Korean David Lipsky and Korea’s Kim Byung-jun.
