Jyoti off to a solid start in England

Surrey, England, May 24 (UNI) India's Jyoti Randhawa shared fifth spot with world number five Ernie Els, after carding an impressive four-under 68 to lie two strokes behind early leader Paul Broadhurst of Britain in the opening round of the PGA Championship here today.

The highest ranked Indian golfer, Jeev Milkha Singh, however, was woefully out of sorts as he ran in three bogeys and a double-bogey for a five-over through the first nine holes so far.

Randhawa sizzled in the front nine, reeling of four birdies, including a hat-trick of them from the sixth hole. On the back nine, he fired two more birdies but spoilt the show a bit by dropping two bogeys.

The other Indian in the fray, Shiv Kapur, was yet to tee off at the Wentworth Club.

A run of three birdies in the first four holes powered Paul Broadhurst to a six-under-par 66, as he fired seven birdies in all, to be one stroke clear of fellow countryman Simon Khan.

Jyoti and South African Els was sharing the fifth spot with Yang Yong-eun of South Korea.

UNI