Damien McGrane showed no ill effects from his recent tussle with Tiger Woods after a five-under-par 67 in the first round at the inaugural Indian Masters to sit two strokes adrift of leader Jyoti Randhawa.
ANDREW MULLEN, in Delhi
Damien McGrane showed no ill effects from his recent tussle with Tiger Woods after a five-under-par 67 in the first round at the inaugural Indian Masters to sit two strokes adrift of leader Jyoti Randhawa.
The Irishman went head to head with runaway world No.1 Woods over the final two rounds of last week's Dubai Desert Classic before eventually being worn down. The 36-year-old, the world No.311, had a final round seven-over 79 - a 14 shot difference from Woods' brilliant 65 - after twice finding water at the last.
McGrane was back in his stride at the tight, tree-lined, water-free Delhi club and joins Hull's Richard Finch two adrift of Indian No.1 Randhawa, who has won back-to-back Indian Opens on the Asian Tour at the same venue.
McGrane said: "What happened last week is truly over for me now. Tiger has moved on and so have I."
The tricky 7014-yard Lodhi course is a far cry from the wide and long courses which are commonplace on the European Tour. "It is a fairly demanding course and after a couple of weeks in the desert it is a complete contrast," he said.
"There are grainy greens as well and you have to hit a lot of straight shots. Luckily for me I hit a lot of straight shots and hit a lot of fairways and holed a few putts.
"The par-4s are about hitting the fairways and if you have to lay up 200 yards from the greens then unfortunately that is the way it has to be."
Finch, the New Zealand Open champion , had a birdie-eagle start to his round, which included a 130-yard nine iron into the par-4 second. But he turned one under after two bogeys. A burst of three birdies over his last five holes brightened his card, which was a boost missing the cut last week in Dubai following a fourth-place finish in Abu Dhabi.
"It is very different to what we normally play on," he said. "I think I hit the driver twice, but it's a different course, it's unusual. Hitting a lot of irons off the tees is not what we are used to, but I don't dislike it."
Randhawa was looking to improve on an impressive record which has seen the 35-year-old taste victory five times overall at the historic Delhi club, which is built on the site of a 17th century tomb. He helped his cause with two eagles, including a 20-foot downhill putt at the last following a three-wood approach into the 545-yard par-5 18th.
Spain's Jose Manuel Lara, Denmark's Thomas Bjorn and India's Shiv Kapur had 68s, with Graeme McDowell, fifth in Dubai last week, two-time major winner Mark O'Meara and English duo David Lynn and Benn Barham in a group a further shot off the pace.
World No.4 Ernie Els, the highest ranked player in the field at the £1.2 event, had a 75 including a quadruple-bogey 9 at the 18th.
Thailand-based Simon Yates was top Scot on 70, one ahead of Stephen Gallacher and Ross Bain with the rookie Peter Whiteford on level-par 72.
