Siem claims clubhouse lead

Germany’s Marcel Siem shot an eagle on his last hole to claim the clubhouse lead with an eight-under-par 64 midway through the opening round of the Avantha Masters today.

The 2004 Dunhill Championship winner produced a faultless round whilst carding six birdies before hitting his approach shot to the fringe of the green on the par-five ninth – his last – and then rolling in the putt from six metres to move into a one-stroke lead at the DLF Golf and Country Club.

“I cannot remember the last time that I shot 64 to be honest with you,” said Siem. “It must be at least three years ago so I am pretty happy with that. It’s definitely my best round for a few years. I have been playing well for a couple of years but it just hasn’t quite come off for me for a few different reasons.

“I played very solid today, didn’t make a bogey and then finished it off nicely with a great eagle at the last.”

Just behind Siem is Chan Yih-shin of Chinese Taipei who signed for a seven under 65 while England’s John Parry and Singaporean Lam Chih Bing carded matching 67s to finish five under.

Richard Bland failed to build on a positive start in his round as the Englishman returned to the clubhouse with a four under 68.

The 37-year-old had enjoyed a blemish-free run heading out whilst picking up four birdies but two additional gains on the back nine were cancelled out by two bogeys. Bland is alongside a group of five players who finished on four under.

Ryder Cup hopeful David Howell endured a torrid day after carding just one birdie – on the par-five 14th – against three bogeys for a two over 74.

Darren Clarke, who teed off in the afternoon, will need to improve if he is to challenge the early pacesetters with the Irishman one over through six holes while world number 59 Jeev Milkha Singh – the highest ranked player at the tournament – was also one over after six.