Scottish Open golf: Indians off to a slow start on Day 1

New Delhi, July 12 (IANS) Indian golfers S.S.P. Chawrasia, Shubhankar Sharma and Gaganjeet Bhullar were off to a slow start on Day 1 of the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club in North Berwick in Scotland.

Chawrasia was the best of the lot as he ended tied 93rd with a score of 70 (-1) under par. Among the other Indians, Sharma and Bhullar ended tied 119th with a par score of 154 with (+6) over par.

Chawrasia scored 3 birdies on the 2nd, 5th and 16th holes and two bogeys to end at T-93. Sharma had a hard start as bogeys on the 2nd, 8th and 9th holes made his progress difficult. There was some salience in the form of three birdies on the 5th, 7th and 16th holes but it could only help him in ending the day with a par score at T-119.

Bhullar, who notched up some impressive performances before the Irish Open where he failed to make the cut, had a bad day on the course. Bhullar, who had early bogeys on the 2nd and 3rd holes, was further pulled back when a triple bogey on the 7th hole dampened his progress. Though Bhullar notched two birdies on the 14th and 15th holes, they were not enough as he ended at T-154.

Frenchman Romain Wattel along with Matt Kuchar, Nino Bertasio and Edoardo Molinari finished on top of the leaderboard with (-8) under par and a score of 63.

Wattel scored 9 birdies but a bogey on the 15th hole stopped him from becoming the lone leader on Day 1.

On the other hand, Kuchar and Molinari scored two eagles but a couple of bogeys hampered their chances to finish with a better score. Bertasio was the only one to remain bogey-free among the top four.