Schott tops the leaderboard on day one, Indians struggle

German youngster Freddy Schott took control of the course and the honours on Day One, firing home a six-under 66 to top the leaderboard at the Hero Indian Open here on Thursday.

Defending champion Eugenio Chacarra was one shot behind on a day that saw most of the fancied names struggle with a course at the DLF Golf and Country Club often considered one of the toughest on the DP World Tour.

With the weather changing throughout the day going from cool and breezy to hot and muggy and back to pleasant towards the end, Chacarra and Schott raced against the fading light. Schott had a bogey-free round till the 13th gaining strokes with six birdies before dropping a shot for the first time on the treacherous 14th – a hole that had an incredible 90 players dropping one or more shots.

He birdied the next one, dropped again on 17th and then, pushed by Chacarra who had caught up with a birdie on the final hole, proved he was up to the challenge with a birdie of his own to go into sole lead. Chacarra, on the other hand, started tentatively with a mixed bag on the front nine but picked up pace on the back.

Meanwhile, Akshay Bhatia had a torrid time in the morning session. Starting from the 10th, Bhatia sent the ball out of bounds in the very first hole for a double bogey, then hit the wrong ball on the 15th for a two-stroke penalty to make the turn at eight-over 44. He made up with a more cautious outing on his back nine to finish with a five-over 77. Last year’s runner-up Veer Ahlawat was the best-placed Indian with a birdie on the 18th — his sixth for the day — to finish on even par 72.

Top scores: 67: Freddy Schott (Ger), Eugenio Chacarra (Esp); 68: Dan Bradbury(Eng); 69: Niklas Norgaard (Den), Martin Couvra (Fra), Calum Hill (Sco), Gregorio De Leo (Ita), 70: Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Tha), Jorge Campillo (Esp), James Morrison (Eng), Grant Forrest (Sco), Alex Fitzpatrick (Eng), Quim Vidal (Esp), Matthew Jordan (Eng), Ewen Ferguson (Sco), Davis Bryant (USA); 71: Ryan Peake (Aus), Kota Kaneko (Jpn), Ivan Cantero (Esp), Euan Walker (Sco), Ugo Coussaud (Fra), Kazuma Kobori (NZ), David Law (Sco), Manuel Elvira (Esp), Jordan Gumberg (USA)Jacob Olesen (Den), Yurav Premlall (RSA), Jens Dantorp (Swe), Ross Fisher (Eng), MJ Daffue (RSA).