Lascuna three shots off the pace in Avantha Masters

Filipino bet Antonio Lascuna carded a three-under-par 69 to lie three shots off Robert-Jan Derksen of the Netherlands, who took the provisional lead with a six-under-par 66 at the start of the delayed $2.3M Avantha Masters at the DLF Golf and Country Club in New Delhi, India. Lascuna and Derksen were among the early finishers late Thursday in the 2011 Asian Tour’s season-opening tournament. Play was suspended due to darkness brought about by the heavy fog in the morning. A total of 66 players will complete their first round on Friday. Lascuna opened his first nine with two birdies and had another one in the 11th to go three-under. He finished with two birdies against two bogeys the rest of the day and was joined by seven others at 11th spot. "I was going for five-under until those bogeys came in. I tried to offset them and luckily I did with that birdie on No. 18," said Lascuna, who is seeking his first Asian Tour title. Countryman Mars Pucay only had an even-72 for a share of 44th. The former tee boy back in his hometown of Benguet wound up with three birdies and three bogeys for nines of 35-37. "It was a roller-coaster round for me. I could not see much with the fog," said Pucay. Another Filipino veteran campaigner, Angelo Que, dropped a shot on the par-three No. 3 before play was stopped after six holes. Derksen went bogey-free despite the weather condition. He holds a one-stroke lead over England’s Mark Foster and Argentine Julio Zapata on matching 67s. Local stars Jeev Milkha Singh, a two-time Asian Tour Order of Merit winner, and Rashid Khan were at fifth on 68s. Defending champion Andrew Dodt of Australia had a birdie on the first and bogeyed the second for an even score after seven holes. Teeing off at the back side, Derksen had birdies on Nos. 12, 17 and 18 for a 33 at the turn. He continued his run on Nos. 3, 6 and 9 to wind up with that 66. "It was a long day with the delay this morning but I have to say that it was worth the wait. I played steady, drove it nicely which is very important on this course, and the putting was a lot better than what it has been the last few weeks because I have been struggling with that," he said. – Adrian Flores, JVP, KY, GMA News