RANDHAWA LEADS THE FIELD IN INDIAN MASTERS

Jyoti Randhawa capitalized on his familiarity with the Delhi Golf Course to fire a seven-under par 65 and take the opening round lead in the Indian Masters golf tournament Thursday.

Winner of four Asian Tour events on this course, Randhawa shot an bogey-free round and carded eagles twice over the last five holes - including the 18th - to take a two-stroke lead over Richard Finch and Damien McGrane, who shared the second spot on five-under par 67.

One stroke behind them were Thomas Bjorn, Jose Manuel Lara and local star Shiv Kapur with four-under par 68.

The US$2.5 million (1.71 million) Indian Masters marked the arrival of European Tour in India.

The opening day saw world No. 4 Ernie Els struggle to a three-over par 75 that placed him in the tied 77nd spot. Experiencing a harrowing time, Els took nine shots on his par-five ninth - the course's 18th - as he twice went into the bushes and took penalty drops on both occasions.

``Nine strokes on the 18th don't surprise me, I've seen bigger numbers than that,'' said Kapur, a regular on the European Tour who holds this course's record of 10-under 62.

``If you take the bunkers out, you tempt people to go with their driver. That's when you find the bushes and you find the trouble,'' said Kapur.

Bjorn said players now rarely play courses like this.

GOLF IN INDIA

Riding on the success of Indian golfers, the game of Golf has made rapid strides across the length and breadth of India. Over the years, Indian pros have consistently raised the bar in international events and the domestic tour is being organized in a professional manner.

The coming of age of Indian golf that started with Ali Sher's memorable Indian Open triumph is continuing unabated with the golfers breaking fresh grounds in distant lands. Jyoti Randhawa and Arjun Atwal topping the Asian Tour Order of Merit, Gaurav Ghei's qualification to the British Open and Atwal becoming the first millionaire out of the Asian PGA are but a few of the glorious achievements by Indian golfers.

In addition to the good showing by the players, the Indian Golf Union (IGU) is making earnest efforts to improve the standard of the game in the country. In 1995, in a landmark decision, the IGU agreed to form a separate body called the Professional Golfers' Association of India (PGAI).

The game got another shot in the arm when the PGAI decided to hand over the managing and marketing rights of the Tour to a professional company in 1997, with Delhi-based Tiger Sports Marketing winning the rights in an open bid.

At present, the Indian PGA Golf Tour is titled the 'Amby Valley PGAI Tour' after Sahara India acquired the title sponsorship rights.