Hero Indian Open: Sweet start for Delhi man Honey Baisoya but sticky beginning for Scots contigient

Home players, led by the wonderfully-named Honey Baisoya, shone on the opening day of the Hero Indian Open as a Scottish contingent that included defending champion Stephen Gallacher huffed and puffed in New Delhi.

India's Honey Baisoya looks in action during the first day of the Hero Indian Open in New Delhi. Picture: Money Sharma/AFP. via Getty Images.

Reduced to just four players after David Law was forced to retire due to an injury following 11 holes, Sandy Scott and Bob MacIntyre fared best among the Scots at the demanding DLF Golf and Country Club with matching two-over-par 74s in the morning wave.

Out in the afternoon, Gallacher – who won the title in 2019 but had faced a lengthy wait to defend it following a Covid hiatus for the event – had to settle for a five-over 77, while Euan Walker sits on six-over with two holes to complete on Friday morning.

While German Yannick Paul finished with four birdies to set the pace with a 65, the star of the day was definitely Baisoya, a 26-year-old local man who thrilled the home crowd with an opening 66 that contained eight birdies.

Bob MacIntyre shares a laugh with Guido Migliozzi, one of his playing partners, at DLF Golf and Country Club in India. Picture: Stuart Franklin/Getty Images.

It was certainly a sweet start for the man named Honey, who smiled when he was asked about that in a post-round interview before sharing a funny family tale about it.

“There’s no story behind it, but my mother doesn’t like it,” he said. “One time I asked her if I could change my name and she said ‘yes, you should change your name’ (laughing).”

Golf runs in Baisoya’s blood. His dad was a caddie at Delhi Golf Club while his uncle used to play as a professional and his brother and cousin are also golfers. Referring to his dad, he said: “His dream was to be a professional golfer. He didn’t have any money, so he decided that his firstborn will be a professional golfer.”

Backing up Baisoya on the leaderboard are two of his compatriots as two-time DP World Tour winner Shubhankar Sharma and Angad Cheema signed for matching 68s to sit in a share of fourth spot.

Paul, who won his first DP World Tour title at last year’s Mallorca Golf Open, started his round with a bogey but then covered the remaining stretch in eight-under.

“It’s my sixth week in a row so I took it pretty easy Monday through Wednesday, just to conserve as much energy as I could because I knew it would be challenging here, mentally as well as with the golf shots,” said the leader.

On a course where big numbers are easy to run up, Scott, who is making his pro debut on the DP World Tour, took a quadruple-bogey 8 at the 14th but, apart from that, gave a good account of himself.

Elsewhere, Gemma Dryburgh opened with a bogey-free four-under 68 to sit just three shots off the lead in the Honda LPGA Thailand event. "Yeah, played well,” said the Scottish No 1. “Putted much better than last week, so that was a bonus."

On the Challenge Tour, Craig Howie is handily-placed in the Nelson Mandela Bay Championship after the Peebles man opened with a seven-under 65 – two less than compatriot Liam Johnston at Humewood GC in Port Elizabeth.

And, in his first start on the Alps Tour, rookie professional Callum Bruce recorded a top-ten finish behind English winner Jack Floydd in the Ein Bay Open at Sokhna GC in Egypt.