Duo share Avantha Masters lead

A closing birdie earned Alejandro Cañizares a share of the lead with Peter Whiteford after the first round of the Avantha Masters in India.

The Spaniard birdied the long ninth to complete a back nine 32 to match Whiteford’s 6-under 66 at DLF Golf & Country Club.

Italy’s Federico Colombo is one shot back in third.

“It’s always nice to finish on a high like that,” he said. “I didn’t hit a great wedge shot into the green so it was nice to sink the putt.

“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. I had a couple of wayward drives but nothing serious and I felt very comfortable.

Whiteford was only one under par at the turn, but the 31 year old – still chasing his first European Tour title – birdied four in a row from the tenth.

A further gain came at the driveable par four 17th, and the former Challenge Tour graduate felt improvements to his long game had been pivotal.

“It was the first time I’ve hit the fairways in months,” he said. “In the stats I probably didn’t hit that many fairways, but it felt a lot better.

“I hit a lot more drivers than people usually do out there and just took advantage of the course and bullied it a little. It can bite you easily though if you’re not careful. I had a bad one down the last but apart from that it’s mainly the driving that was loads better today.”

South African’s in the Avantha Masters

Jbe Kruger is the leading South African after the first round, four shots behind the leader on 2-under, with Richard Sterne a further shot behind him.

Peter Karmis had a dreadful first day and is currently in last place on 8-over. There is almost zero chance he will make the cut, but he’ll be hoping to have a better day tomorrow to avoid the wooden spoon.