Hull three off the pace in Delhi

Valentine Derrey of France fired a flawless six-under-par 66 to share the opening round lead with Thidapa Suwannapura of Thailand at the Hero Women's Indian Open.

Derrey, the 2011 Tate and Lyle Players' Champion on the US Symetra Tour, is yet to win on the Ladies European Tour, but her game is in the ascendancy after third and second place finishes at the Helsingborg Open and Lacoste Ladies Open de France in September and October respectively.

The 26-year-old from Paris is hoping to go one place better this month and adopted a target golf style of play to record six birdies on the tight and treacherous course at Delhi Golf Club, whose narrow fairways are surrounded by dense foliage.

Also playing in the afternoon, in temperatures topping 28C, fellow former Symetra Tour winner Suwannapura carded seven birdies and one bogey on the par-3 7th after finding a bunker.

Hannah Jun of the United States placed third on 68, four-under-par, while Ladies European Tour rookie professional Charley Hull from England was a further shot back in outright fourth.

Patience paid off for Derrey, who enjoyed the challenging golf course. "I played pretty steady and made six birdies. I hit 10 fairways, 15 greens, made 27 putts. I didn't really make any mistakes. I made everything. Hopefully it stays like that tomorrow."

Derrey used her driver seven or eight times and hit the ball straight. "I knew I was playing well the last few months. I made some putts and six under," she continued. "My driving was good and I hit 10 fairways. I missed four but close to the fairway."

Two Asian pros tied for fifth spot - Titiya Plucksataporn of Thailand and South Korean Bo Mi Suh.

Thai pros have traditionally fared well in this tournament - with Pornanong Phatlum having won three times in 2008, 2009 and 2012 at DLF Golf Club in Gurgaon - before the event moved to Delhi Golf Club for the first time this year.

Sunawannapura, 21, hopes to continue the Thai success story and said: "Today I was hitting it straight all the way: that was the key to my game."

Jun, 28, from California, played her first nine holes in level par but picked up four birdies in five holes from the second on her inward nine.

"There are a lot of tee shots which are pretty tight on that back side so once I got through the back, the front nine is pretty score-able in terms of aiming at pins and hitting fairways so I was a little more aggressive on the back and it worked out," said Jun, whose career best finish on the LET is a tie for second at the 2011 Ladies Scottish Open.

Hull, the youngest professional in the field at 17, had few expectations and kept things simple.

"I hit it pretty good. I didn't hit it that well in the practice rounds and on the range it was the worst I've ever hit it in my life but I went out there and flushed it again so I'm feeling pretty happy with my game," said Hull.

The Solheim Cup heroine is hoping to clinch her first victory in India this week after posting five straight runner-up finishes at the start of the season."

VICTOR DRIVES STRAIGHT INTO DUNHILL LEAD

Frenchman Victor Riu overcame a double-bogey five on the 16th at Leopard Creek on Thursday to fire a four-under-par 68 to take a share of the early first round lead of the Alfred Dunhill Championship.

He shared that lead in the €1.5-million tournament co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour and the European Tour with defending champion Charl Schwartzel, and led by one from England’s Danny Willett, James Kingston and Gareth Maybin of Northern Ireland.

“It was just one mistake on the 16th,” said Riu. “I hit a really poor shot which went straight in the water, and without that, it was a very good day. I’m very happy, and feeling good with my game after I didn’t play well last week.”

Riu missed the cut in the South African Open Championship last week after rounds of 71 and 74. “Last week was my first event on the European Tour for this year,” he said, “and I was on a break in France for two weeks and I couldn’t train a lot because it was very cold.

“So it was a tough start for me, and after I missed the cut, I had last weekend and Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to practice and it was much better today. I’ve got a bit more confidence.”

Schwartzel was less pleased with his 68, opting not to speak to television or reporters after his 68 which included a double-bogey six on the first hole – he started on the 10th – and a bogey on 17. His troubles seemed to come from his driver, which left him right of the fairway in the rough on 17 where bogey was eventually a good score. He was also right of the fairway on 18, the 495-metre (541-yard) par-five with the island green which was playing easiest of all at Leopard Creek during the first round. He ended up with a par there when eagle was a possibility and birdie should have been a given. And he missed the fairway on one too.

It was a breezy, overcast and cool morning – very un-Leopard Creek-like weather – and that factored into the scores as players battled to get the ball to fly as far as it usually does at the course in the heat.

“The course was playing very long, because the ball wasn’t running while it was cool this morning,” said Riu. “But I was very happy with my driving. I was consistent and I was very straight.”

Schwartzel will want to take a leaf out of that book for his second round.

Australian Open: Adam Scott holds a three-shot lead after a course record 62

Adam Scott fired a course record 62 to take the lead after the first round of the Australian Open in Sydney.

Scott is looking to become only the second player to land the Australian PGA, Masters and Open title in the same season, and at three shots clear is bang on course for the hat-trick.

The US Masters champion had a strange round, birdieing the first six holes, parring the next eight, before finishing strongly with four more birdies.

"It was a beautiful day for golf, I came out hitting great shots and didn't have much work to do to clean them up in the first five holes and had a nice putt on my sixth hole and I was really rolling at that stage," he said.

"But I think I've gone through a rollercoaster of emotion out there today from cruising after six holes to having to work pretty hard.

"Nothing much was going my way, I missed a green, felt like my swing was leaving me again, it's just amazing how in 18 holes you can do a 360 degrees of emotion and mood swings and everything."

Canadian Ryan Yip shot 65 to tie the previous record and was in second place. David McKenzie had a 66 while two-time champion Aaron Baddeley was in a group with 67s tied for fourth.

Rory McIlroy, trying to win for the first time this year, shot 69, seven behind Scott. The Northern Irishman made the turn at two-under, bogeyed 11 and 12 but had three birdies in his final seven holes, including on the 18th.

He took 29 putts and admitted he was disappointed at his return.

"I drove the ball pretty well off the tee but just didn't get any reward on the greens," he said. "I missed three short ones and that was just wasteful as I felt it could have been a lot lower, given that I am driving the ball the best I feel I ever had.

"It's just a matter of being more efficient and putting better, and that's really it as I only played the par fives in one under par, and the way I am driving it, I should be playing those in four under."

Kevin Streelman, who played with Matt Kuchar on the runner-up American team in last week's World Cup at Royal Melbourne, shot 70 playing in the same group as Scott and Jason Day, who also carded 70.

Ashes: Rory McIlroy backing Australia to continue winning ways in Adelaide

Rory McIlroy admits he is taking more enjoyment out of the current Ashes series than he is from his exploits on the golf course.

After completing what he described as a 'wasteful' round on the opening day of the Australian Open, the Northern Irishman mimicked Andy Murray when asked who he was following in the cricket.

Wimbledon champion Murray once said he'd back whoever England faced during World Cup matches and McIlroy, who posted a first-round 69 in Sydney to lie seven shots behind Adam Scott, joked: "I suppose it's anyone but England.

"I must say I do like it when the Ashes comes around and I watched the cricket from Brisbane last week.

"I have always been interested in the Ashes and when I was back home a few years ago I remember getting up at midnight to watch the first ball bowled in the Boxing Day Test match.

"The Aussies had a pretty convincing victory up there in Brisbane... so hopefully more of the same (in Adelaide).

"The sledging this year has been a bit worse than other years. It looks like they are having a go at each other after every ball and it would be really tough to take that for too long."

Of his round, McIlroy, who is without a tournament victory this year and has slipped to No 6 in the world, said: "I left three or four short putts out there which was just wasteful.

"I felt it could have been a lot lower. Off the tee, I'm driving the ball the best I ever have, it's just a matter of being more efficient and scoring better.

"And when you see someone at 10 under par, especially when you see it's Adam Scott, I felt like I was in neutral at three under and not making birdies."