June 09, 2016: Indian golfers had a mixed bag of returns from the first day’s action at the Diamond Country Club in Atzenbrugg, Austria. Chiragh Kumar opened his Lyoness Open campaign with a 71 in the first round, but both Himmat Rai and Shiv Kapur finished firmly over par. Jeev Milkha Singh was midway through his round at four over through thirteen holes. Adrian Otaegui fired a brilliant 64 to take the clubhouse lead even as the first round is in progress.
Jeev ended the day with a two over 74, courtesy a couple of birdies at 14 & 16. But at T76, he will have to come swinging out in the second round to avoid missing the cut.
Chiragh was two over very early in his round on Thursday. He conceded back to back bogeys at the 11th and 12th holes. But he kept his sheet clean from there, going fifteen holes without bleeding a shot. Kumar made birdies at the 15th, 1st and 3rd holes to sign off with a 71. He was lying T29 at the time of publishing this report.
Himmat was punished for a triple bogey seven at the 7th hole. He also made back to back bogeys at 13 & 14 but these were offset by birdies at the fifth and sixteenth holes. He went on to score 75 to fall outside the top 100, with a real risk of missing the cut, unless he finds a significantly better round on Friday.
Shiv Kapur also did not have any joy in the first round. He conceded three bogeys and a double bogey at the seventh hole, settling for a disappointing 76.
Jeev had a patchy front nine – bleeding four bogeys against a lone birdie as he made the turn in 39 strokes. He was still on the course at the time of our report, but steadied his boat with three straight pars on the back nine.
Adrian shot four birdies on either side of the course in a superb 64 that helped him gain a two shot lead over Bjorn Akesson, who made 66 with seven birdies.
