Superb round gives Rohana Indian Open lead

Sri Lankan Anura Rohana shot the round of his life to take the lead on the opening day of the Hero Honda Indian Open at the Delhi Golf Club on Thursday.

The former amateur star carded an eight-under-par 64 for a one-stroke lead over Australian Craig Warren.

Rohana, best known for claiming the silver medal in the Asian Games in 2002, made a grip adjustment at the start of the day and it paid dividends as he amassed an eagle, seven birdies and a bogey.

"I had been slicing the ball a bit so I strengthened my grip and, thankfully, I hit the ball really well," said the man from Colombo.

Rohana began his round in the US$300,000 Asian Tour event on the 10th and rattled off birdies on 13, 14, 15, 17 and 18 to make the turn in a sizzling five under. The makings of an outstanding round were completed when he holed a 20 yard bunker shot on the par five eighth for an eagle.

"That was something special. I just hope I can put a decent round together tomorrow. I am playing early and have to set my alarm for 5am so it's going to be tough," added the Sri Lankan.

Remarkably, the last time Rohana played at the Delhi Golf Club, in a domestic event on the Indian PGA Tour earlier this year, he shot a 63 on the final day. On that occasion he had been nine over par for three rounds before recovering all his shots on the last day.

Tournament favourites Jyoti Randhawa and Arjun Atwal from India returned rounds of 69 and 70 respectively.

Randhawa, said: "I have not been playing too well in the last few events. So I am happy the way things went. There were two bogeys, but, by and large, I am happy with my game."

Atwal, the first Indian to earn a US PGA Tour card, seemed fine with his round

"I am still in touch and there are lots more to come over the next three days. I had one double bogey with a lost ball on the third hole and that was the only blemish. I missed a lot of birdie putts inside 10 feet."

Asian Tour Order of Merit leader Thaworn Wiratchant from Thailand, a two-time winner this year, started well with a 68.

"It's not really my kind of course as you need to hit the ball straight, which is something I do not do off the tee. My short game came good though," said Thaworn.

Defending champion Mardan Mamat from Singapore fired a 71, helped by birdies on 16 and 18.

He said: "I played quite well. Hit a bad a tee shot on the first but managed to get par. After that it was steady going. I just kept the ball in play, and tried to hit the green in regulation. I am very pleased with one under because I did not strike the ball well.  The feeling is not right and I was not focusing very well."

Leading first round scores:
64 – Anura Rohana (SRI)
65 – Craig Warren (AUS)
66 – Digvijay Singh (IND), Hendrik Buhrmann (RSA)
67 – Yeh Chang-ting (TPE), Rahul Ganapathy (IND), Gaurav Ghei (IND), Terry Pilkadaris (AUS)
68 – Gary Simpson (AUS), Thaworn Wiratchant (THA), Atthaphon Prathummanee (THA), Park Unho (AUS), Muhammed Munir (PAK), Jaiveer Virk (IND), Simarjeet Singh (IND) A, Bryan Saltus (USA),
69 – Ashok Kumar (IND), Jyoti Randhawa (IND), Prom Meesawat (THA), Larry Austin (AUS), Gurbaaz Mann (IND), Ron Won (USA), Glenn Joyner (AUS), Richard Lee (NZL), Ross Bain (SCO), Vinod Kumar (IND), Alistair Presnell (AUS)
70 – Shiv Kapur (IND), Scott Strange (AUS), Marcus Both (AUS), Matt Keegan (AUS), Clay Devers (USA), Derek Fung (HKG), C. Muniyappa (IND), Eiji Mizoguchi (JPN), Mohd Islam (IND), Arjun Atwal (IND), David Gleeson (AUS)
71 – Pablo Del Olmo (MEX), Harmeet Kahlon (IND), Randhir Ghotra (IND), Somkiat Srisanga (THA), Mukesh Kumar (IND), Andrew Pitts (USA), Adam Blyth (IND), Mardan Mamat (SIN).