Atzenbrugg (Austria), June 8:
It was a rough opening round for Indian golfers Ajeetesh Sandhu (77) and Shiv Kapur (79) at the inaugural Shot Clock Masters at Diamond Country Club near Vienna here today.
Sandhu dropped four bogeys and a double bogey against a lone birdie, while Kapur had five bogeys, two double bogeys and a couple of birdies in his opening round.
The duo will need a very strong second round to stay on for weekend action.
Swede Oscar Lengden leads the way at the end of round one after he signed for a six-under par round of 66 on a day in which the fastest round came in at 55 minutes under the average time across the European Tour in 2018 for 18 holes in three balls.
The group of Nico Geyger, Henric Sturehed and Kristian Krogh Johannessen posted a round time of three hours and 53 minutes, compared with the 2018 season average of four hours and 48 minutes.
Five groups completed their rounds in under four hours, as the average for the day came in at four hours and 13 minutes, with no penalties imposed for bad times.
The 21-time European Tour winner Miguel Ángel Jiménez of Spain was one of those players who got around Diamond Country Club in less than four hours, on the way to a round of 67.
The European Tour was once again breaking new ground, with every player in the field on the clock for every shot as part of the Tour’s bid to combat slow play. (PTI)
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