Joakim Haeggman has made a flying start with a round of -7 on a sweltering day just outside New Delhi, but home favourites Jeev Milkha Singh and Jyoti Randhawa are well in the hunt at Jaypee Greens.
The Swede had a couple of birdies in his first four holes, and his only dropped shot of the day came at the 7th. But his round really caught fire around the turn as he made six birdies in seven holes from the 9th, before parring the final three holes to claim the clubhouse lead. Key to his success was picking up shots on all four of the par-5s.
“You’re just trying to hit one shot at a time. And, you know, surviving the heat. I’ve been hitting the ball nicely all day and not missing too many greens, because it’s really tricky to get them up and down here. Driving the ball in these tight fairways and getting the ball on the green is really important. I’ve holed a few putts as well.”
Today’s hotter conditions have helped the course, but also pose a real challenge for the players: “The course has dried out immensely since yesterday. We had some really hard downpours yesterday morning, and the golf course is playing faster today. I really think the rough is playing better because it’s dry again. I don’t know how much water we drink – five, six, seven litres a day. You know, you’ve just got to keep refilling, get some salt in there as well, and then have a big rest.”
The Legends Tour has made a real effort to visit new countries and grow golf in emerging markets in recent times. It visited Vietnam for the first time last November, made its debut in Zambia two weeks ago, and Haeggman is happy to be playing the inaugural event in India.
“You’ve got to look at the marketplace and obviously the interest for Jeev, and some of the other Indian guys who are playing. You know, they’ve been on our soil so many times and they’ve been winners on the DP World Tour earlier on in their careers. And now we’re in India on their home turf. It’s great to be here and it’s great for golf that we actually come to places like this.”
Clark Dennis is in 2nd place after opening the week with a 67. The American started on the 10th and raced to the turn in just 31 strokes. He admitted fatigue set in on his back nine, as he deals with the 10-and-a-half hour time difference to his native Texas, but he battled hard to come home with two bogeys and two birdies, including an important pick-up at tricky 8th hole.
Tournament host Jeev Milkha Singh, Jyoti Randhawa and Adilson da Silva are in a three-way tie for 3rd on -4. Singh handled his hosting duties with aplomb to notch five birdies and one bogey, while Da Silva matched that scoring as he pursues a 7th Legends Tour victory.
It was an eventful day for Randhawa as he started on hole 10 and recovered from three bogeys on the outward nine and a +2 score at halfway to blitz the course’s front nine in just 30 shots. He’s won at Jaypee Greens before and showed his confidence here by playing a five-hole stretch from the 1st in -6. It could have been even better if not for a bogey on the 9th, his final hole.
There’s a five-way tie for 6th on -2 that includes Carl Suneson, Emanuele Canonica, Greig Hutcheon, Lionel Alexandre and Gary Marks. The trio of Van Phillips, Mikael Lundberg and Sean Whiffin are a shot further back, as a total of 13 players broke par on the challenging par-72 layout.
