Till late on Wednesday night, Gaurav Ghei was not even sure if he would be playing the opening round of the Indian Open. He was not sure if his stiff neck would hold out. But his love for the sport had the final say, with Ghei deciding to give it a shot.

"There was no way I was not going to play, even if I had to be taken on a stretcher," the Delhi pro said. "I got some treatment here and I decided not to go for a scan."

But a traffic cop nearly spoilt the 39-year-old's party in the morning. Besides holding him up for long, he even fined Ghei for not carrying the pollution certificate of his car with him. Scheduled to tee off at 7.20 in the morning, the Delhi pro managed to hit a couple of balls in the range before making to the tenth tee in time. And after parading his skills for around four and a half hours at the Delhi Golf Club, Ghei had a share of the first-round lead in the $500,000 Asian Tour event. "I'm delighted," said a beaming Ghei. "I'm actually delighted to just be coming out and playing."

"I just got out there and just said to myself to keep it on the fairway and get it on the greens and then try and hole a few putts," said Ghei, the only Indian winner on the Asian Tour this season. He did just that while returning a sizzling six-under-par 66. Winner of the Pine Valley Beijing Open in April, Ghei picked up the neck injury during the Mercuries Taiwan Masters last month. "The stiffness started at that tournament and last week it was very bad. I couldn't play for five days," Ghei noted. Ghei, who considers the DGC his second home, knows the course like the back of his hand. He had won his maiden Asian Tour event at the very course 12 years ago.
Having ended his 11-year drought last September, interestingly at the Mercuries Taiwan Masters, Ghei, sixth on the Asian Tour Order of Merit, is considered one of the favourites to win the Indian Open. Despite the stiff neck and the bothersome cop, Ghei sure is on the right path to script a new chapter on guts and glory.