Lin`s decision to play Indian Open pays off

New Delhi: Disappointed at being disqualified last week, Lin Wen-Hong had almost decided to skip the Indian Open but the Chinese Taipei golfer is happy that he listened to his wife as he hit a blemish-free seven-under 65 on opening day.

"To be honest after I got disqualified last week (for writing a wrong score). I didn`t want to play here but my wife encouraged me to play. I was really sad but it looks like I`ve recovered and I am happy to be here," said Lin, who was leading for most part of the day before India`s Chiragh Kumar grabbed the top position in the dying moments of the day. "I didn`t expect to play well here. I came here without thinking of winning at all. I`m here just to play hole by hole and hopefully get a good result at the end of the week," he said. Lin was disqualified from the Yeangder Tournament Players Championship after writing a wrong score on the last day at the fifth hole at Chinese Taipei. He would have finished tied third and missed out of USD 10,000 in the process. The 33-year-old golfer has played 92 tournaments and had just four top 10 finishes, one of which came this year at the ICTSI Philippine Open when he signed off tied eighth. But Lin, who held on to his Asian Tour card for 2011 on the final day of the season-ending Black Mountain Masters in 2010, is however satisfied with his game. "I haven`t really played very well this year but my game seems to be clicking very well here. I had a long putt on the 16th hole from 20 foot. This golf course is a very tricky course and you have to stay on the fairway," he said. A 10th tee starter, Lin was on a birdie spree from the 13th hole to the 17th hole and fired another couple of birdies at the front nine to bring home a blemish-free round. "My tee shots were great. You have to hit it really straight here to get a good score. I used the driver twice on holes 14 and three," he said. PTI