Stephen Gallacher makes fast start in New Delhi

Stephen Gallacher is tied for the lead following round one of the Hero Indian Open after he and Julian Suri both fired five-under rounds of 67.

The 44-year-old is seeking to end a five-year drought, having not won a European Tour event since the 2014 Omega Dubai Desert Classic, and he made the perfect start at the DLF Golf and Country Club, where he recorded a top-10 finish last year.

Gallacher went through the first 11 holes at five-under before a double-bogey at the 14th appeared to have scuppered his chances of being at the top of the leaderboard.

However, the Scot produced a superb eagle putt at the 18th from off the green to propel himself into first place, where he was eventually joined late on by American Suri, who birdied the last to claim a share of the lead.

Having only made one cut before this week’s Indian Open, Gallacher was delighted to return to form in New Delhi as he set himself up for a strong week.

“It was a perfect morning,” Gallacher told the European Tour website. “Cool to start with and then it heated up later on in the round, and not too much wind, so it was perfect today. Coming back to a place where I’ve played well hopefully I can draw on some inspiration from last year.”

A collection of four players sit one shot off the lead – Spaniard Pablo Larrazabal, South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Swede Robert Karlsson and Prom Meesawat of Thailand, while Maybank Championship winner Scott Hend and local hero Shubhankar Sharma are two shots off the pace.