Hero Indian Open - Day one digest

Everything you need to know from day one in New Delhi.

There was a tie at the top, Matthew Southgate was left sweating after a visa mix up, Sebastian Söderberg had one of the maddest rounds you'll ever see and there was some brilliant shot making on day one of the Hero Indian Open.

Here is everything you need to know from the opening round at DLF Golf & Country Club.

Trio tied at the top

Matteo Manassero continued his fine recent form to join Joost Luiten and Keita Nakajima at the top of the leaderboard. The Italian created one of the stories of the season earlier this month when he won the Jonsson Workwear Open for his first DP World Tour victory in almost 11 years, completing a remarkable comeback after losing his card in 2018. His bogey-free 65 saw him sit next to early pacesetter Luiten and they soon had Nakajima for company as the Japanese came home in 30 to also get to seven under. English pair Sam Bairstow and Jordan Smith were then one shot off the lead alongside Frenchman Romain Langasque.

C'est la visa for Southgate

Southgate only just arrived in time for the opening round after an admin error with his visa application left him waiting in a hotel room in Singapore studying Youtube videos and yardage charts to prepare for one of the toughest courses on the DP World Tour. The Englishman carded an impressive five birdies during an opening round level-par 72 after arriving in India just a few hours before his tee time. He had still been in Singapore at 9pm local time on Wednesday night when he found out that a new application had been approved and he was going to be able to make his Thursday tee time in New Delhi. Until that moment, it was something which had very much been in doubt. "I was supposed to be coming Monday afternoon and obviously like a lot of us I have two passports, so I've travelled with my slightly older passport and the visa application had gone into the new one, so it's a bit of an admin error really," Southgate explained. "I had photos of all the yardage charts sent through to me, which is helpful. And then I watched as much on YouTube as I could."

Söderberg's wild ride

When Söderberg made six birdies in a row from the second to be six under after seven holes, nobody at the course could quite believe how easily one of the toughest tests on Tour was being tamed. There was already talk of Shubhankar Sharma's course-record 64 being shattered but then the Swede made an eight on the next. In the remaining ten holes he would take his birdie tally for the day to nine but also add a bogey and another eight at the 14th to finish the day with a 71.

Hidalgo feeling at home

Angel Hidalgo compared DLF G&CC to his favourite course in the world after firing an impressive 67 over the intimidating layout. The venue looks nothing like anything else the players face all year on the DP World Tour, with its intimidating tee-shots, huge changes in elevation and dramatic landscaping and bunkering. But Spaniard Hidalgo - after pairing eight birdies with a bogey and a double on day one - revealed he felt it played like Real Club Valderrama, the storied venue in his homeland which hosted the Ryder Cup in 1997. "To be honest this is the most similar course we have to Valderrama, which is probably my favourite golf course, which is one you need to play really hard and fight," he said. "This is an ideal one."

A bit of everything

Hit pins, chip-ins, near aces and remarkable recoveries - day one had the lot.