Siddikur starts strong at happy hunting ground

Bangladesh's premier golfer Siddikur Rahman ended the first round of the Hero India Open in joint-16th position, four shots behind leader Daniel Im of the USA.

Siddikur, who won the 2013 edition of the tournament, started the event off in fabulous fashion with a birdie on the very first hole at the Delhi Golf Club, a course that has been favourable to him. However, he slipped up on the third hole as he carded a bogey to return his score to par.

The 32-year-old, who has missed the cut in three of his six Asian Tour events this season, got back on track with three birdies on the 6th, 8th and 16th holes to finish the round at joint-sixteenth in the US 1,660,000 dollar event.

The leader, Im, hit seven birdies and returned no bogeys to finish on top, with three golfers claiming second place, just one shot behind. Five golfers shared fifth place, while a further six were joint-tenth.

Siddikur was joined by seven other golfers at sixteenth.