NEW DELHI : Thai duo Thongchai Jaidee and Kiradech Aphibarnrat stayed in contention after hitting four-under-par 68s in the first round of the Avantha Masters in Gurgaon yesterday.
They were tied fourth _ two shots off the pace _ along with four other players including India's Himmat Rai and Frenchman Gregory Havret.
Spain's Alejandro Canizares and Scotland's Peter Whiteford set the early pace when they posted matching six-under 66s to take a share of the first round lead _ one shot ahead of Italian Federico Colombo.
Canizares, who is playing in India for the first time, said he hoped to bring home happy memories of his stay at the Avantha Masters which is tri-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, European Tour and PGTI.
After a near-flawless round, the Spaniard could be on his way towards achieving that and ending a six-year title drought at the Avantha Masters, which is richest tournament staged in India, thanks to its US$2.3 million prize fund.
"I played very steady and I putted quite nicely. The only mistake I made was missing a short putt on the seventh so I made a bogey. But overall it was a nice round with not many mistakes," said Canizares, a one-time European Tour winner.
Whiteford, meanwhile, had five birdies on the back nine including four in a row from the 10th.
Kiradech proved once again that India is a happy hunting ground for him after he took the morning round lead with his 68.
After narrowly missing out on his second Asian Tour win in Myanmar earlier this month, Kiradech is determined to shine again in the country where he savoured the winning feeling for the first time.
With the Avantha Masters enjoying the honour of being the first of four events scheduled to be played in India this season, the 23-year-old knows that his game can only get better in the subcontinent.
"I think I've got the chance to win more tournaments in India. We've many tournaments on the Asian Tour in India and I think that by having more playing opportunities here, we get more familiar with the conditions and we can improve," said Kiradech who earned his career breakthrough at the Sail Open last year.
"I'm playing my best golf and I hope this will continue throughout the season. I made some adjustments to my swing and they are more consistent now."
Thongchai also kept up the Asian challenge by staying close to the leaders even though he was still feeling the effects of a throat infection.
"I hit about 15 greens today and it's nice to be among the leaders especially after an opening round," said Thongchai.
"I felt very sick when I was in Qatar and Dubai and I'm only starting to feel a little better this week. I guess it might be the sand storms from the Middle East. I've a throat infection but I've been taking medication and slowly I'm feeling better."
LEADING FIRST ROUND SCORES (a denotes amateur)
66 _ Alejandro Canizares (ESP), Peter Whiteford (SCO).
67 _ Federico Colombo (ITA).
68 _ Kiradech Aphibarnrat (THA), Himmat RAI (IND), Thongchai Jaidee (THA), Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (FRA), Jamie Donaldson (WAL), Gregory Havret (FRA).
69 _ Vivek Bhandari (IND), Scott Jamieson (SCO), Peter UihleiN (USA), Oscar Floren (SWE), Marcel Siem (GER), Andrea PAVAN (ITA), Anirban Lahiri (IND), Jeev Milkha Singh (IND), Marcus Fraser (AUS).
70 _ Chapchai Nirat (THA), Paul Mcginley (IRL), Rhys Davies (WAL), Mithun Perera (SRI), Shamim Khan (IND), Joost Luiten (NED), Berry Henson (USA), Scott Barr (AUS), Marcus Both (AUS), George Murray (SCO), Soren Hansen (DEN), Jbe kruger (RSA), Mardan Mamat (SIN), Ignacio Garrido (ESP).