Daniel Chopra tied 96th after round one in Houston Open

Houston, Apr 21 (UNI) The par-four fifth hole turned out to be his undoing as Indian-born Swede Daniel Chopra returned an openning round card of two-over 74 for the tied 96th place in the 5.3 million dollar Shell Houston Open here.

The former Asian Tour regular reeled off a string of four par shots before arriving at the 480-yard fifth hole.

This long par-four required a solid drive, followed by a long and accurate approach shot but Chopra missed the plot here and ended up dropping three shots. Consecutive four par shots and Chopra completed a forgettable front nine.

On his way back, things finally looked brighter for him with back-to-back birdies on the 11th and 12th holes but a dropped shot on the 16th again pulled him back and Chopra rounded off the day with a couple of par shots at the par-72 Redstone Golf Club.

Meanwhile, at the top, Stuart Appleby made the most of perfect early conditions, firing a six-under 66 for the sole lead and barring a lone bogey, it was a dazzling show by the Australian who fired seven birdies to stay one stroke ahead of the American duo of Jerry Smith and D A Points and three strokes clear of defending champion Vijay Singh of Fiji, who is eyeing a third title here.

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