New Delhi, India, March 28: Thailand’s Prom Meesawat opened his campaign with a four-under-par 68 to trail the leaders Stephen Gallacher of Scotland and American Julian Suri by one shot at the Hero Indian Open on Thursday.

The 34-year-old Thai traded five birdies against one bogey to stay close behind the leading duo who posted matching 67s at the US$1.75 million event staged at the challenging DLF Golf and Country Club.

India’s Shubhankar Sharma,  Australia’s Scott Hend, Thai duo Poom Saksansin and Prayad Marksaeng and Japan’s Masahiro Kawamura stayed two shots off the lead following their rounds of 69.

Starting on the 10th hole, Prom remained patient as he tackled the demanding course, rolling in four birdies before stumbling with his only blemish of the day on the eighth hole.

Hend, who was victorious in Malaysia last week, completed an amazing turnaround for his opening efforts. The big hitting Australian recovered brilliantly with three closing birdies after making a triple bogey on the ninth hole where he found the water hazard twice.

Did you know?

·       Prom Meesawat nicknamed “The Big Dolphin” is a two-time winner on the Asian Tour. He claimed his second title in Chinese Taipei in 2014, eight years after his breakthrough in Korea.

·       This marks his best round at the DLF Golf course in his last three appearances at the Indian Open. He finished tied-13th and tied-57th in 2017 and 2018 respectively.

·       Prom was accurate off the tees and only missed three fairways and hit 15 greens.

·       Shubhankar Sharma hit nine fairways, missed four greens and totalled 30 putts in his opening round.

·       Sharma’s best finish at the Indian Open was a tied-seventh result last year. He fired a 64 in his second round, which still remains the course record to beat.

·       Sharma will be aiming to be the tenth Indian to lift the coveted trophy at the event which celebrates its 55th edition this week.

·       Scott Hend surged up to 134th place on the OWGR after his win in Malaysia last week. With his victory, he ended a three-year title drought on the Asian Tour and became the second highest-earning player on Tour with accumulated earnings of US$5.04 million.

·       The Australian, who leads the current Habitat for Humanity Standings, played the par-four holes in five-under-par. He suffered a triple-bogey eight on hole 18, which was one of five triple bogeys made on that hole for the day.

·       Masahiro Kawamura overcame a two-shot deficit to claim his maiden breakthrough victory at the 2013 Asia-pacific Panasonic Open.

·       Kawamura had a consistent driver to thank for his personal-best round at the Gary Player designed course since he last played the event in 2017 and shot opening rounds of 81 and 82.

Scores after round 1 of the Hero Indian Open 2019 being played at the par 72, 7438 Yards DLF GCC course (am – denotes amateur):

67 – Stephen Gallacher (SCO), Julian Suri (USA).

68 – Christiaan Bezuidenhout (RSA), Pablo Larrazabal (ESP), Robert Karlsson (SWE), Prom Meesawat (THA).

69 – Erik Van Rooyen (RSA), Edoardo Molinari (ITA), Ashley Chesters (ENG), Prayad Marksaeng (THA), Shubhankar Sharma (IND), Scott Hend (AUS), Masahiro Kawamura (JPN), Poom Saksansin (THA), Richie Ramsay (SCO).

Ends.