Kapur opens with 69 in Munich, Jeev lags behind, Els leads

Munich: Shiv Kapur battled his way through the second nine and returned with a card of three-under 69 in good scoring conditions at the BMW International Open, while his colleague Jeev Milkha Singh, struggled to a 73 that had four bogeys and three birdies.

Kapur was lying tied 48th, while Jeev was in danger of missing of the cut at tied 117th. Meanwhile at the top, Ernie Els, fourth at the US Open at Merion and getting ready to defend his British Open title next month, continued his fine form with a sublime nine-under 63 to take a one shot lead at the end of a low scoring first round. The South African, who also finished tied for sixth at the BMW PGA Championship last month, fired five birdies in an outward 31 having started at the tenth on a lengthened Golfclub M?nchen Eichenried layout. He then turned for home with a 40 foot birdie at the short second, before producing one of the shots of the day at the par five sixth. With water looming large by the side of the green and having found the right rough, Els fired a brilliant fairway wood approach from almost 250 yards to within five feet of the hole to set up a sublime eagle. Els almost replicated that feat at the ninth, where another eagle would have seen him equal the course record, but a two-putt birdie still proved good enough for a one stroke lead. "It seems like it`s really a day of scoring today," said Els. "If you shoot a really low one, it`s nice. It takes the pressure off the rest of the tournament a little bit. Although when you`re leading, it doesn`t really mean much until Sunday, but if you get into the race, so to speak, early on in the tournament, it`s nice to be right in the hunt." In a tie for second at eight under par is home favourite Martin Kaymer, who took one of the biggest crowds of the afternoon, and he duly rewarded those watching with nine birdies and just a single dropped shot en route to a round of 64. Kaymer is in a tie for second alongside England`s Matthew Baldwin, Sweden`s Alex Noren and fellow afternoon starter Robert-Jan Derksen, who all signed for opening rounds of 64, while Alexander Levy, Tom Lewis and Matthew Nixon are all a shot further back on seven under par. "A part from that one hole, I played solid. Had a couple of bad bounces to drop a couple of shots coming in. I just didn`t take advantage of the par fives on the front nine, played those in one over. But I`m happy I`m still there," Lahiri added. Pariya Junhasavasdikul of Thailand sank two eagles for a battling three-under-par 68 to maintain his overnight one-shot lead over close friend Baek Seuk-hyun of Korea at the halfway stage. Pariya and Baek will temporarily set aside their friendship as they head into the weekend rounds at the tough Seri Selangor Golf Club. Superb eagles on the sixth and 13th holes from 12 and eight feet respectively kept Pariya ahead of the chasing pack on eight-under-par 134. The burly Baek fought hard for his 68 on a crusty Seri Selangor course which saw only nine players ending with red figures at the conclusion of the second round. Talented 19-year-old Malaysian amateur Gavin Green carded a 69 for third place on 137, three shots off the lead while Australia`s Wade Ormsby, winner of the Panasonic Open India in April, continued his impressive form with a 70 to trail Pariya by four shots. PTI