NEW DELHI, Nov 5: Gerry Norquist, by his reckoning, has been here for tournaments at the Delhi Golf Club about six times. ``I've never missed the cut,'' he declares with a broad smile and immediately touches wood to ward off evil. Yet, he almost did not make it here. ``It was a last-minute decision to come here. Then my visa got delayed and I came in late on Tuesday, and I was not sure I would get a good caddie. But waiting for me right at the gate was Minnu, who has been with me in the past,'' he added.Caddie Minnu's reading of the greens -- ``he was right on 16 of the 18 greens'' and Norquist's renewed belief in his own capabilities saw him card a fine seven under on the opening day of the US $ 200,000 Hero Honda Masters on the Omega Tour. Two strokes behind him was Jeev Milkha Singh looking for his first win over two years.
Starting out on the 10th tee, Norquist went on a birdie spree with four in a row from 11th to 14th and followed that with four pars for a 32 on the first nine. Then came abrilliant eagle on the first when he holed from 12 feet. At that stage he was six under and he went seven under with a birdie on the fourth. The course record of eight under looked in danger.
But then came the blemish on the sixth. He hit his tee shot into the bushes and had to take a penalty drop and bogeyed the hole. However he was back to seven under with a great six iron shot from 180 yards.
Leading scores after first round: 65: Gerry Norquist (US); 67: Jeev Milkha Singh; 68: Mike Cunning (US), Anthony Kang (Kor), Frann Quinn (US) and Gaurav Ghei (Ind); 69: Sanjay Kumar (Ind), Jyoti Randhawa (Ind), Scott Taylor (US), Craig Kamps (RSA); 70: James KIngston (RSA), Grant Dodd (Aus), Jumman (Ind), Leith Wastle (Aus), Yoshihito Nishimoto (Jpn), Justin Cooper (Aus), Indrajit Bhalotia (Ind), Carlos Espinosa (Mex); 71: Scott Rowe (Hkg), Adrian Percey (Aus), Arjun Atwal (Ind), Yusuf Ali (Ind), Rafael Ponce (Ecu).
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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