Ace Indian golfer Jyoti Randhawa made a brilliant start at the $-6 million WGC-American Express Championship when he shot a 1-under 69 to be tied for the eighth place after the opening round at the Capital City Club in Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday.
According to information from the par 70, 7,189 yards, Crabapple Course, Randhawa was four behind leader Sergio Garcia of Spain, and two strokes adrift of defending champion and world No 1 Tiger Woods.
Woods, along with Choi Kyung-ju of Korea, was tied for the fourth place at 3-under 67. Tim Herron and Rocco Mediate (both USA) were joint second at 4-under 66.
Arjun Atwal, the other Indian in fray at the premier championship, was tied for 60th place following an opening round six-over 76. Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand, who makes up the Asian trio to have made it to the 72-man field, was tied 37th at 3-over 73.
On an exacting course, where the cream of world golf found the lightning fast greens too tough to handle - the average putts for the entire field was 30.61 - Randhawa was one of only 12 players who managed to break par. The No 1 player on the Asian PGA Tour in 2002 made three birdies and two bogeys in his round, where he struggled off the tee, finding just five of the 14 possible fairways. However, Randhawa's irons were fairing much better, and he still managed to find 13 greens in regulation. He had 30 putts during the round.
"This is a great start for me," said the Mizuno and Titleist-sponsored Randhawa.
"Now I need to capitalise on this and be consistent over the next three days. The conditions are tough here and you got to be in the fairway to post a good score, which is difficult considering that they are so narrow," added the Gurgaon-based golfer, who is paired with twice WGC winner Darren Clarke and Aussie Peter O'Malley for the second round.
Atwal had a terrble start to his round and had made four bogeys by the sixth hole with a solitary birdie on the fifth. On the back nine, he made a double bogey on the par-4 16, and bogeys on the 14th and 18th holes. His second birdie of the day came on the 13th hole.
"I struggled with my putter today," said the Kolkata-based pro. "Despite finding 12 greens in regulation, I made 33 putts. I am hopeful of a much better score on Friday and make a move up the leaderboard," added the twice winner on the European PGA Tour. The silver lining of Atwal's round was the fact that he would be able to match wits with two major champions - Rich Been (2002 PGA Championship) and Ben Curtis (2003 British Open) - as they make a threeball for Friday's round.
Garcia shot a bogey-free 65 to announce his return to form after a woeful season on the PGA Tour, which saw him post only two top-10 finish, with a tie for fourth place at the Buick Classic being his best.
"I'm a bit more relaxed on difficult courses where it doesn't end up becoming a putting competition. I know I don't have to go for every pin, only the ones I feel comfortable with."
Leading scores (after 18 holes): 65 _ Sergio Garcia (Spain); 66 _ Tim Herron (USA), Rocco Mediate (USA); 67 _ KJ Choi (South Korea), Tiger Woods (USA); 68 _ Ignacio Garrido (Spain), Niclas Fasth (Sweden); 69 _ Jyoti Randhawa (India), Loren Roberts (USA), Mike Weir (Canada), Peter O'Malley (Australia), Darren Clarke (N Ireland);
Other important scores: 70 _ Vijay Singh (Fiji), Jim Furyk (USA), Adam Scott (Australia); 71 _ Ernie Els (South Africa), Fred Couples (USA), Nick Price (Zimbabwe), Padraig Harrington (Ireland); 72 _ Shaun Micheel (USA), Lee Westwood (England); 73 _ Phil Mickelson (USA), David Toms (USA), Retief Goosen (South Africa), Thongchai Jaidee (Thailand); 74 _ Colin Montgomerie (Scotland), Davis Love III (USA), 75 _ Justin Rose (England); 76 _ Chris DiMarco (USA), Arjun Atwal (India), Rich Beem (USA), Ben Curtis (USA).
