NOIDA, India, 21 February 2008 — Scotland’s Ross Bain and Australian Tony Carolan capitalized on near-perfect conditions to share the first round lead with matching six-under-par 66s at the Sail Open here yesterday.

Local hero Jyoti Randhawa lay a shot further back after missing a five-foot par putt on his closing hole at the $400,000 event at Jaypee Greens.

Australia’s Scott Hend, Peter Cooke and Adam Groom, Singaporean Lam Chih Bing and Dinesh Chand of Fiji also shot 67.

On a wide-open course with no rough, the going was fairly easy as Bain, 32, and Carolan, 39, search for their maiden Asian Tour wins.

“It was a pretty solid round. I did have some poor shots on the front nine, but got away with it as there is not much rough,” said the Dubai-based Bain, the highest placed Scotsman at last year’s British Open.

Bain’s round of 66 included an eagle on the 12th hole and birdies on the fourth, eighth, 15th and 16th holes. “I felt I could go lower today, but had a lip-out on the 17th and left my putt hanging on the hole on the 18th,” he added, predicting a low-scoring tournament with the winner needing about 20-under.

Randhawa was on fire starting with an eagle two, when he almost drove the green on the short 354 yards par four 10th hole, his first of the day, and downed his putt from 10 feet short of the green.

He then sank birdies on the 13th and 18th holes to be four under at the turn, and picked up further shots at the second and the seventh, but dropped one on the ninth.

“It was a good start, but disappointing to finish with a bogey on the ninth,” said Randhawa.

“When you feel a little disappointed after shooting a five-under, that says all about the course.” The next best Indian was Dinesh Kumar, who brought home a 68 to lie in tied ninth spot. Veteran Ali Sher, Harinder Gupta, Vinod Kumar and unheralded Gaurav Pratap Singh all shot 69 to be tied for 15th place.

Ernie Els Motivated to Improve

Match Play Championship Form

In Marana, Arizona, Ernie Els, the king of match-play golf in Europe, is eager to improve his dismal record at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in the United States.

Although the 38-year-old has won the European Tour’s World Match Play Championship at Wentworth a record seven times, he has struggled to make an impact in the PGA Tour’s equivalent.

In seven appearances, he has been knocked out in the opening round four times, most recently by Britain’s Bradley Dredge last year.

“I can’t really put my finger on it,” South African Els told reporters at Dove Mountain’s Gallery Golf Club on Tuesday. “All I can say is I think my mindset has got to be different over here.

“My record is not great in this tournament, as we all know. If I have a better game and I get a bit lucky, you win a couple of matches and you can find yourself in the quarterfinals or semifinals. “I’m really aiming at that and basically that’s why I’m here. I really like this golf course. It’s in really fine shape.”

His best performance came in 2001 when the Accenture Match Play Championship was held in Australia for the first time and he reached the semi-finals, losing to Swede Pierre Fulke 2&1.

Asked to explain why he had thrived at Wentworth over the years, Els replied: “I think a major influence might be because I’m sleeping in my own bed. I don’t have to fly 12 hours to get there.” The smooth-swinging South African has his England home on the Wentworth estate, southwest of London.

“And there it’s 36-hole matches, versus 18 holes here,” he added. “Plus it’s a different time of the year and a different golf course, just totally different circumstances.” Els, a three-time major winner who has not triumphed on the PGA Tour since 2004, takes on American Jonathan Byrd in opening round.