Indian cricket legend Kapil Dev shot a nine-over-par 81 in his first professional tournament at the Hero Honda Masters yesterday - but was still placed three shots ahead of Hong Kong's Dominique Boulet after the opening round of the US$200,000 Delhi event. Kapil's wayward round left him 16 shots behind American leader Gerry Norquist as the former Indian cricket captain, who is playing as an amateur, struggled to get to grips with the 6,757-yard Delhi Golf Club layout. While Kapil was toiling, local favourite Jeev Milkha Singh gave the home crowd plenty to cheer about with a five-under-par 67. 'This morning when I went out I was very relaxed and felt pretty good - this was the main reason for my low score today,' said Singh, who is a career three-time winner on the Asian PGA Omega Tour. Hong Kong's Boulet, still searching for his best form as the Hong Kong Open approaches, fired a 12-over-par 84 to finish way down the field in joint 106th position with four others. But there was better news for Hong Kong golf after the opening round of the 38th Putra Cup competition at the Santa Elena Gold Club in Santa Rosa, Laguna province yesterday. The SAR's team finished the day tied in a creditable third place with Indonesia. Tongchai Jaidee and Songphan Puakkprapong each scored one-under-par 71s to put Thailand into an early lead in the first round of the competition, which comprises teams from South East Asia. Thailand, who are the defending champions, led with 214 and were eight strokes ahead of second-placed Malaysia with 222. Indonesia and Hong Kong finished on 228. The Philippines finished the day in fourth place with 230, followed by Singapore with 234, Papua New Guinea with 244 and Brunei with 257.
