Kuala Lumpur, Feb 5 (IANS): Indian golfers struggled on the first day of the Malaysian Open as Anirban Lahiri and Shiv Kapur finished joint 16th and tied 39th, respectively, at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club here Thursday.
Lahiri hit five birdies against three bogeys to card two-under 70. The 27-year-old was the only Indian to score an under-par round. Shiv carded a even-par 72.
"I’m quite disappointed. It is not often that you should two-under on this golf course and you feel bad. It was disaster coming in because I played really good. One bad shot and I lost my focus and couldn’t hole any putts," Lahiri said in a release.
"I should have built on the round. I missed way too many putts. The way I hit it today, I should have hit a five or six-under but I let it slip away from it. I need to stay a bit more patient. I tried to push it a bit harder and I lost some focus."
However, defending champion Lee Westwood launched his bid for a record-tying third crown by firing a brilliant six-under 66 to share the lead with Northern Irishman Graeme McDowell.
The Englishman, who won the title in 1997 and romped to a seven-shot victory here last season, snared seven birdies against a lone bogey. He was matched by McDowell.
Malaysia’s Danny Chia provided the local cheers with a strong five-under 67 to tie for third place with Tommy Fleetwood of England and Korea’s Kang Sung-hoon at the $3 million championship co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour.
Prom Meesawat of Thailand, who finished third on the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit last season, rolled in a birdie on his last for a 68 for equal fifth place with Anders Hansen of Denmark and Alejandro Canizares of Spain.
Other Indians in the fray, Rashid Khan and Jeev Milkha Singh scored 73 to share 56th position. Gaganjeet Bhullar (tied 79th), S.S. P. Chowrasia and Arjun Atwal (joint 103rd), Rahil Gangjee (tied 121st) and Jyoti Randhawa (joint 132nd) struggled Thursday.
Leaderboard:
66: Lee Westwood (ENG), Graeme Mcdowell (NIR).
67: Tommy Fleetwood (ENG), Danny Chia (MAS), Kang Sung-hoon (KOR).
68: Alejandro Canizares (ESP), Anders Hansen (DEN), Prom Meesawat (THA), Richard Bland (ENG).
69: Richard T. Lee (CAN), Paul Mcginley (IRL), Andrew Dodt (AUS), Jake Higginbottom (AUS), Paul Waring (ENG), Stephen Gallacher (SCO).
70: Mod Iylia Jamil (MAS), Robert Karlsson (SWE), Gregory Bourdy (FRA), Anirban Lahiri (IND), Andy Sullivan (ENG), Felipe Aguilar (CHI), Romain Wattel (FRA), Robert Rock (ENG), Marc Warren (SCO), Scott Barr (AUS), Alvaro Quiros (ESP), Nicolas Colsaerts (BEL), Bernd Wiesberger (AUT), Emilliano Grillo (ARG).