By IANS
Lisbon : A flawless round of 67 with four birdies in the space of six holes on the back nine saw golfer Shiv Kapur make a fine start in the opening round of the Portugal Masters Thursday. Kapur was lying tied 18th, while Jeev Milkha Singh was tied 61st with a round of two-under 70 at the Oceania Victoria Club de Golfe.
The lead after the first day belonged to 22-year-old Martin Kaymer, who shattered the course record with an 11-under par 61, as he shot five birdies on his last five holes and had no bogeys through the day. He was three clear of Argentine Daniel Vancsik (64) and Sweden’s Martin Erlandsson (64).
Kapur birdied the par-3 sixth and then on found his next birdie only on the 12th, but once he did he shifted gears. He found a second birdie on 14th, followed that up with two more on 15th and 17th.
“It was nice finding all those fairways and when I missed I managed to scramble back for pars,” said Kapur, who is currently 96th on the European Money List. “It was one of those days when things worked, from tee to the green.” Kapur had 14 greens in regulation and needed just 28 putts for a great round.
Jeev opened with a bogey, but made up with a birdie on third, only to drop a shot again on fourth. Then he steadied himself with two more birdies before the turn and was one-under for the front stretch. On the back nine, he had birdies on 15th and 17th but dropped a shot on 16th.
Retief Goosen and Lee Westwood were among those at seven-under 65 on a good scoring day during which 92 of the 126 starters were under par.
Kaymer, who is playing his first full season on main European Tour has had a 13-under 59 in his career, but it was in a Satellite Tour in Germany some years back. He is also twice winner on the 2006 Challenge Tour and finished second at the Scandinavian Masters after leading till the 71st hole.
Curiously Vancsik led for most part of last week in Spain before he ruined his card with a nine on fifth hole of the last day.