Paris, July 2 (IANS) Indian golfer Jyoti Randhawa’s four-under 67 put him in tied fifth place, even as Jeev Milkha Singh and Shiv Kapur carded one-under 70 each at the opening round of the Alstom Open de France.
Robert Jan-Derksen carded an eight under par 63 to lead the field by three shots Thursday. Jean Van de Velde began just his second event of the year with a five-under par 66 to be in a share for second place.
Defending champion German Martin Kaymer also began with a 66, as did Spain’s Alejandro Canizares who completed a three-way tie for second on five-under.
Randhawa, who has been struggling with his form – though he shot a fine 66 in second round of last week’s BMW International – had a bogey-free round with four birdies. He had birdies on second and ninth and then added two more on 14th and 17th.
The key to his round was accuracy as he found 12 of the 14 fairways and had 13 greens in regulation and needed 27 putts. On the five times he missed the greens, he scrambled to a par.
Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter, both being passed fit to play following their leg problems, shot 70 and 72 respectively.
