Vilamoura,. Portugal:
A topsy-turvy back nine had almost spoilt his card but Indian golfer Shiv Kapur still managed to bring home a score of two-under 70 to lie tied 49th after the opening round of the European Tour's Portugal Masters.
The Delhi golfer sank in as many as three birdies against an equal number of bogeys and an eagle here.
Playing his back nine first, Shiv stumbled to a bogey on the 10th hole, which was negated by a 14th hole birdie. He then dropped a bogey, an eagle and a bogey at the 16th, 17th and 18th hole to make the turn level-par.
On resumption, the Indian shrugged off his back nine blues to pick up two birdies on the second and sixth holes while parring the rest to end the day on a positive note.
Among other Indians, SSP Chowrasia managed a one-under 71 to lie tied 67th.
The Kolkata-golfer sizzled in his front nine with three birdies on the second, fifth and eighth holes but an erratic back nine spoilt his card.
The Indian had three bogeys at 13th, 17th and 18th hole, besides hitting a double bogey, an eagle and a birdie at the 11th, 12th and 15th holes respectively.
Jyoti Randhawa was further down the rung at tied 99th after carding a one-over 73 with four birdies and five bogeys against his name.
He had birdies on the second, fifth and sixth in his front nine, which also had bogeys on the first, fourth and eighth hole.
In his back nine, Randhawa had a birdie on the 12th but two bogeys on the 14th and 18th left him over-par.
At the top, it was a three-way tie for the lead among Robert Karlsson, Johan Edfors and Maarten Lafeber after the troika brought home cards of eight-under 64.