John Daly had a day to forget at the Avantha Masters, as Alejandro Canizares and Peter Whiteford stormed to the top of the leaderboard.
Daly had a tough time at the Australian Open in November, walking off the course after firing a string of shots into the water and claiming he had run out of balls. He went some way to redeeming his reputation with fine displays in recent weeks, but he crashed down to earth with a 79.
Bogeys came his way at four and five, with the American paying the price for wayward tee shots. But things unravelled on the par-five 14th with a triple-bogey eight.
It got no better coming home, as a truly awful approach to the 18th green found water and resulted in a bogey - which left him to sign for a seven-over 79.
He is almost certain to miss out on the weekend, but two players who will be around are Canizares and Whiteford who both opened with impressive rounds of 66. A stunning back nine of 31 shots helped Whiteford into a share of the lead.
Rising US star Peter Uihlein birdied three of his final four holes to post an impressive three-under 69. His effort was matched by Scott Jamieson and Marcel Siem - the latter looking to mount a challenge for the second successive week following his fine effort in Dubai.
An eagle three on the ninth was the highlight of Paul McGinley's opening round of 70, a score matched by Rhys Davies at the DLF Golf and Country Club in New Delhi.
