Cunning rediscovers form in style

CALCUTTA, March 12: Mike Cunning has been on the Asian golf circuit for more than a decade. He came to Asia in the 1980s to get over the dis...

CALCUTTA, March 12: Mike Cunning has been on the Asian golf circuit for more than a decade. He came to Asia in the 1980s to get over the disappointment of not making to the US PGA Qualifying School. But even after he made the US PGA in 1993 he is still without a title in 40 starts in three years on the APGA.

A six-under 66 on the rain-hit opening day of the Classic Indian Open at the Royal Calcutta Golf Course (RCGC) could well be the beginning of his first title. With only half the players completing their rounds before unseasonal rains stopped the day’s proceedings, Cunning led the field. While there was play the scores were rather good with 22 sub par scores and another eight players shooting par. When rains accompanied by thunderstorm lashed the course, Jyoti Randhawa was even par but he could be affected by the stoppage. He was on the fourth hole, his 13th for the day, and went into the right hazard a dry drain. He left a marker but when he returns on Friday morning, he may find himself in the waterand may be forced to take a penalty and drop a stroke.

Meanwhile, Cunning who arrived only at 3 pm yesterday, did not seem to be affected by lack of practice, managing a parround. He had seven birdies, four on the front nine and three on return. He dropped a stroke on the third, when the high roughs took their toll. In the morning, there were two players with four under and five with three under 69s, including Arjun Atwal and Feroz Ali, both of whom who can call the RCGC their backyard. Atwal looked set for a bogey-free round till he came to the ninth. Caught out of the fairway he went into the rough as he hit over the trees in an attempt to get to the green. He dropped a stroke and finished three under.

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Feroz Ali is the only Indian in the top 10. He also shot a 69, with five birdies and two bogeys.

Defending champion Edward Fryatt had a one under, as did Kanwar Sekhon the third best Indian. Gaurav Ghei had an even par round, with two birdies and two bogeys on both front and back nines and the otherIndian with a par round was Amritinder Singh.

For India , the most disappointing performances came from Vivek Bhandari who finished fourth in the London Myanmar last week and twice Indian Open champion, Ali Sher. Both had four over 76.