By IANS
Abu Dhabi : The rust showed as the Indian trio looked somewhat listless in the opening round of the Abu Dhabi Golf Championships Thursday evening.
The best of the lot was Shiv Kapur, who started brilliantly with two birdies in first four holes, but then gave that and more away and ended with a 74 in 74th place. Last year Kapur was contending after three rounds in the same tournament.
While Kapur, 25, shot a two-over 74, Jyoti Randhawa brought home a card of three-over 75 for 90th place and Jeev Milkha Singh went four-over 76 to be 98th.
At the top, there was German Martin Kaymer. The 23-year-old, who won the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year award in 2007, carded an excellent six under par 66 to lead the way by a shot from Sweden’s Henrik Stenson.
Randhawa admitted: “I was feeling a bit rusty out there. This is my first round in almost two months. I wasn’t as sharp as I would have liked to be. But I was kind of expecting it. I think it will take me a couple of weeks to get back in the groove.”
However, Jeev despite the 76, was not unnerved. “I am not bothered by this round of 76 because I played much better than what my score suggests. I am very happy with the way I am hitting the ball, and my only mistake was the shot on the ninth hole, where I pulled it into the water hazard for a double bogey. But I did not putt too well.
“I made a three-putt bogey on the fourth, and that made me tentative on the greens. I made another three-putt bogey on the 16th. The cut looks like going at one-over, so I will have to play well tomorrow and I am looking forward to it.”
Kapur bogeyed the fifth and ninth and then came a double bogey on 11th. Then came yet another bogey on 17th to put him three-over. A birdie on 18th proved a consolation.
Randhawa had two bogeys, a double and just one birdie.
Jeev had an eventful round opening and closing with a birdie, but in between he had five bogeys, a birdie and a double bogey in his 76.
Swede Robert Karlsson and Adam Scott of Australia shared third place after they opened with matching 68s.
Kaymer got off to the best possible start when he eagled his opening hole of the tournament and the year – the 554 yard tenth hole – with a stunning drive, a glorious rescue club second to six feet and one putt.
He was still two under par through the turn but his real push for glory came over his final stretch where – after birdieing the second – he racked up three birdies in his final five holes.
Stenson, 31, who lives in Dubai, was delighted with his 67, which gave him the ideal chance to keep his run of superb form in this part of the world going. In 2006 he won the Commercialbank Qatar Masters and followed that with a victory in the Dubai Desert Classic last season.
Further down the leader board, Open Champion Padraig Harrington battled back from an uncertain spell in his round to end with a level par 72 but there remains a bit of work to do for defending champion Paul Casey who struggled to come to terms with the putting surfaces on his way to an opening 75.