The sun came out in its full glory while the 18th hole was shielded from the sun, butterflies flew around on the green and the golfers had gathered to mop the sweat off their putts. A deafening stream of music emanating from the live apartment contributed to dissonance in the flow. But nature triumphed on this occasion.
“Jeev Milkha Singh Joined,” Brazil’s Adilson Da Silva said after the course. Both men leaving happy four under 68 at Jaypee Greens a couple of pats and a cuddle. Two bats were needed by cricketer Yuvraj Singh in this competition group to be an amateur.
“I played really well, had a lot of chances to make easier putts. The hard part was the weather, it was hot and sticky. The good thing was we were going in the cart,” Giff said. “Joakim, the Swede behind, is used to the cold weather. He is at 7 under.” offered the host and people looked towards the leaderboard.
$500,000 HSBC India Legends Championship After the checkered flag at the end of the first day of the tournament. Jeev and Jyoti Randhawa Team India Tied for third along with da Silva, three shots adrift of leader. Joakim Hagerman. And one more bogey separated American Clark Dennis. 5-under par.
Hagerman has achieved three victories on the European Tour and in the year 1993, he was the first Swedish player in the Ryder Cup. “I think I have come to India for the third time. But this is the hottest one as of now,” said the 2002 and 2004 Ryder Cup vice-captain.
Also, it’s important to stay well-hydrated. Giff is now on a banana and protein-shake diet. “At times it is very difficult even to maintain the cool. So I simply try to keep my concentration,” expressed da Silva who is a winner of six Legends Tour events. For the Brazilian 52-year-old, who has already participated in one PGTI tournament, there is one advantage and that is a very ‘good local caddy.’
This scenario doesn’t disturb one golfer though – Texan Dennis, a Rookie of the Year 2017 and the one with 211 USPGA Tour starts. “It’s been with the family for 46 years. It is a routine for me.” Said the 58-year-old.
Interestingly, that is when Randhawa regained his form. “We’re, you know over fifty and this involves outdoor activities so some heat is needed to loosen your muscles,” laughed the champion of Q-School. “You have to walk and then naturally it’s going to be very tough.”
Coming back from holiday he was 2 over teeing off on the 10th hole. Whereas, Jyoti was clinical in the day when he made his first appearance on the first tee. “The opening few holes were holes I really wanted to erase from my memory. I had a negative shot and couldn’t see this evolution coming – it was never going to happen. All I did was trust my game, be positive and then my putting returned. He went one over par to a birdie on number one swiped straight to four back to four straight bruises in the fifth hole. After a bird on No. 8, he was briefly tied for the lead. However, it looked like an over-aggressive approach on the last No. 9 after a shot went awry, was rather a bad idea.
This year, Jyoti has three top -10 finishes and is looking for even more.
First round leader board: Joakim Hagerman (Swe) 65 (-7), Clark Dennis (USA) 67, Jyoti Randhawa, Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind), Adilson Da Silva (Bra) all shot 68. Score selected was 73-Michael Campbell (N.Z.) and Amandeep Singh Johl (T –19; ); 74 some Mukesh Kumar (T29); 77 some Harmeet Karan (T49); 78 some Sanjay Kumar, Vijay Kumar (T -53); 79 some Singh, Vishal (T -58); 81 some Singh Digvijay (T -62)
