Not so easy for 'Big Easy'

NEW DELHI, February 7: India's first ever European Tour event, the Indian Masters teed off in style at the newly re-laid Delhi Golf Course, DGC on Thursday.
With some unexpected performance by world's top golfers and India's big guns, the tournament teed off at the scheduled time 0720 hrs IST.
At the halfway stage on day one, the Indian hopes are pinned on Shiv Kapur, as the 25-year-old carded a 4-under 68 to be tied first with Thomas Bjorn of Denmark.
"It was a pretty scratchy round. I managed to pull a 68 out of nothing really. I started off on the back nine and it was quite a seesaw, lots of birdies and lots of bogeys. Wasn't really settled in and I wasn't swinging too well," said Kapur.
"I got a good break on 14 when it bounced out of the trees and made birdie. And I didn't find my swing until the front nine, which was my back nine. 68 is a pretty good start, but just the way I played, making seven birdies, I would have hoped for a better round really," he added.
Digvijay Singh, temporary leader at 5-under after 10 holes, however lost his way to be in the company of Arjun Atwal at 2-under 70.
Digvijay is looking good with the tournament's first eagle on the 14th hole and birdies on the 17th, 18th and the 1st after having teed off from the 10th hole.
The biggest shock of the day came from world number four Ernie Els. The South African carded a 3-over par 75 at the end of his first round play. Playing his front nine in round one, the jolt came for him on the 18th. Els, the favourite of the tournament, took a nine on the par 5 18th.
This is how it happened on the 'disaster hole':
Els, started off play with a drive. Els' second shot went into the bushes on the left. An unplayable lie forced him to take a penalty drop. Well, that was not the end of his run on a jinxed hole.
His fourth shot pitched back into the bushes, following which Els, nicknamed 'Big Easy', took another penalty drop. His sixth shot pitched short of the green, following which his seventh on the hole pitched to ten feet. And then he needed two putts to finish the hole.
Despite the much unexpected show by the South African, local favourite Shiv Kapur wasn't really surprised with Els' play.
"I am not surprised at all. By putting some of these bunkers in, you're taking some of the big numbers out because a lot of people are hitting irons off tees," explained Kapur. "If you take the bunkers out, you tempt people to go with their driver, and that's when you find the bushes and when you find the trouble. I've seen big numbers made here," he added.
Jeev Milkha Singh was quite a disappointment for the home crowd, as Jeev ranked 91st in the world, shot a 5-over par 77 on day one.
Amongst the Indian star cast, Jyoti Randhawa and Gaurav Ghei are currently playing their respective front nine for the day.