Poor day for Indian golfers

SSP Chowrasia, the other Indian in the fray, was two-over 73 to lie tied 112th and the Kolkata pro too will have to come up with something special in the second round to hang around for weekend action.

Left-handed Australian Richard Green leads the pack after a seven under par 64 with compatriot Adam Scott trailing him from two shots behind at Loch Lomond.

Playing his back nine first, Jeev birdied the 14th and 15th holes to go two-under before a bogey-bogey finish to the stretch undid the good work.

His front nine was a sedate affair with the third hole birdie reigniting his hopes for a sub-par card before the dampener came in the form of the bogey on the very next hole.
Chowrasia, on his part, was going one-under after 15 holes before things went awry for the Kolkata pro in the last three holes as he double bogeyed the 16th an signed off with a bogey to settle for a round of 73.

Worse was the case with Shiv Kapur who neither had a good start nor a decent finish to his opening round campaign.

Randhawa’s round looked doomed in the front nine itself with three bogeys and a triple bogey and even though the lanky pro fired an eagle and a birdie on his back nine, he picked up two more bogeys in the process to join Chowrasia at tied 136th.

Atwal in danger

Back in action after a four-month injury layoff, Arjun Atwal did not have exactly a fairytale return to the PGA Tour and the rusty Orlando-based Indian turned in two-over 73 to lie tied 118th in the USD 4.3 million John Deere Classic golf tournament in Silvis. Indian-born Swede Daniel Chopra, however, had reasons to smile as the former Asian Tour member fired a four-under 67 to take a share of tenth place.

American duo of Lee Janzen and Darron Stiles shared the top spot after identical splendid rounds of 64.

Playing his back nine first, Atwal bogeyed the 15th hole to take the turn at one-over before runnings into a rollercoaster front nine that tested him to the hilt. Atwal bogeyed the first hole before running into a stormy six-hole stretch featuring three birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey to boot.