Jeev Milkha Singh, a former champion, made a steady start to the European Tour Scottish Open, scoring a level-par 72, even as compatriots SSP Chawrasia and Shiv Kapur both scored 6-over 78 in the first round in Inverness on Thursday.
Jeev, who had won the title in 2012, was leading the field after his first 11 shots, and is only three shots behind joint leaders Scott Hend of Australia and Chilean Felipe Aguilar. There are four qualifying spots up for grabs for next week's British Open.
Jeev began his first round in stirring fashion, scoring birdies on the 452-yard par-four 5th and the 568-yard par-five 6th, before repeating the sequence on the 403-yard par-four 9th and the 363-yard par-four 10th. He was leading the field alongside Welshman Bradley Dredge at that stage, when he dropped two shots on the 599-yard par-five 12th. He bogeyed the very next hole, and then would score another bogey on the 607-yard par-five 18th.
Chawrasia, who had finished tied-11th the year Jeev won in Scotland, would begin his first round by birdieing the 439-yard par-four 1st, but then scored bogeys on two of the next three holes. His back nine was riddled with mistakes, though a birdie on the par-five 12th was scant consolation for two bogeys and two double bogeys, even as the conditions became considerably trickier, with the wind picking up at the Castle Stuart Golf Links.
Kapur was the last among the Indians to tee off and he began with a birdie off the first hole of the back nine, but then dropped five shots in four holes - including a triple bogey on the 226-yard par-three 17th - before dropping two more shots on the par-five 2nd hole. Kapur shot two birdies and two bogeys off the next five holes, to finish with 6-over 78 just like Chawrasia.
Kapur will tee off for his second round at 7:40 am local time (12:10 pm IST), while Chawrasia and Jeev will have their tee times at 12:30 pm local (5 pm IST) and 1 pm local (5:30 pm IST), respectively, on Friday.
