India Legends Championship: Jeev Milkha Singh, Jyoti Randhawa lead home charge

In tied-third place on 4-under, three behind Sweden's Haeggman
GREATER NOIDA: The sun was out, butterflies flitted across the greens as the golfers gathered on the 18th, wiping off their sweat as they lined a putt. Loud music from an onsite condominium provided the dissonance to the musical stream but nature had won this round.
Jeev Milkha Singh walked off in the company of Brazilian Adilson Da Silva, both pleased with their 4-under 68 rounds at Jaypee Greens; a hug and two pats were reserved for cricketer Yuvraj Singh, the amateur in this playing group.
"Played really well, had a lot of birdie opportunities. The tough part was the weather, quite warm and humid. The positive part was we were moving in carts," said Jeev. "Joakim, the Swede behind me, is used to cold weather. He's 7-under par," the host provided the info before one glanced at the leaderboard.
The $500,000 HSBC India Legends Championship was at the opening-day finish line, and local heroes Jeev and Jyoti Randhawa were in tied-third position with Da Silva, three strokes behind leader Joakim Haeggman and one shy of American Clark Dennis at 5-under.
A three-time winner on the European Tour, Haeggman was the first Swede to p lay in a Ryder Cup, in 1993. The 55-year-old from the historic town of Borgholm took the heat in his stride. "I think it's my third visit to India. But this is by far the hottest," the 2002 and 2004 Ryder Cup vice-captain said.
Hydration was the key. Jeev was taking protein shakes, bananas. "It's tough to stay cool. So I'm just gonna try to be patient," said Da Silva, a six-time winner on the Legends Tour. Having a 'good local caddie' was a plus for the 52-year-old Brazilian, who had played a PGTI event once.
One golfer not bothered with the conditions was Texan Dennis, 2017 Rookie of the Year and a veteran of 211 USPGA Tour events. "It was 46 at home. This is just normal to me," the 58-year-old said.
Randhawa's game blossomed midday. "Us, you know, over 50, you need some warm weather to open your limbs," the Q-School winner said, smiling. "If you had to walk it, of course, it would be really tough."
Starting on the 10th tee, Jyoti took the turn at two-over. But once he stepped on to the first tee, the course seemed a different world. "The first few holes was something I wanted to forget. I just did not believe this was happening and I just stuck to my gameplan, stayed positive, and my putting stroke came back." He reversed the damage with consecutive gains from holes 1 to 5 with four birdies and an eagle -a given from 6 ft on the par-5 second. He found himself briefly in shared lead with a birdie on the 8th but a little aggression on the closing 9th seemed a bad idea with a dropped shot.
Jyoti's had three top-10s this year, and looking for more.
ROUND 1 SCORES: 65 (-7)-Joakim Haeggman (Swe); 67-Clark Dennis (USA); 68-Jyoti Randhawa, Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind), Adilson Da Silva (Bra); Selected scores: 73-Michael Campbell (NZ), Amandeep Singh Johl (T-19); 74-Mukesh Kumar (T29); 77-Harmeet Kahlon (T49); 78-Sanjay Kumar, Vijay Kumar (T-53); 79-Vishal Singh (T-58); 81-Digvijay Singh (T-62)