Spain’s Carlos Del Moral raced into an early lead as the Hero Indian Open began at Delhi Golf Club.
The 29 year old narrowly missed out on retaining full playing status on The European Tour last season after finishing 113th on The Race to Dubai, but raced to five under par when play began on Thursday.
After birdies at the first, fourth and seventh, Del Moral – a four-time Qualifying School graduate – dropped a shot at the ninth to turn in 34.
He then birdied three of the next four holes after the turn to hold a one shot advantage over in-form Canadian Richard T Lee.
Lee, a regular on the co-sanctioning Asian Tour, finished fourth in Thailand last week and fifth in Malaysia the week before and continued in the same vein with four gains in an outward 31.
England’s former amateur star Matt Fitzpatrick, his compatriot Max Orrin, Thailand’s Thanyakon Khrongpha and Sri Lankan Mithun Perera were alongside local favourite S S P Chowrasia on three under par during the early exchanges.
Maybank Malaysian Open winner Anirban Lahiri and evergreen Spaniard Miguel Angel Jiménez were among the afternoon starters on day one.
