Bob MacIntyre made an excellent start to the DP World India Championship as he overcame "absolute carnage" at Delhi Golf Club, but the same cannot be said for Patrick Reed and Shane Lowry

Bob MacIntyre fared better than most in the "absolute carnage" of the opening round of the DP World India Championship, and he admits he has never felt more "uncomfortable" over tee shots.

Delhi Golf Club took plenty of victims in a first round that dragged into Friday morning after a five-hour thunderstorm delay on Thursday, with Patrick Reed, Shane Lowry and Ryan Fox among the big names who struggled.

Reed's Race to Dubai hopes were dented by opening with a three-over-par 75 that included five bogeys and a double. Lowry matched Reed's score, and Open champion Fox was one shot worse off. They all failed to meet the challenge of these narrow fairways lined by gnarly rough and thick jungle.

MacIntyre, however, carded a four-under-par 68 to take residence in the top 10, two shots adrift of first-round leader Niklas Norgaard. But it was an uncomfortable experience for the Scotsman, and he is all too aware of the dangers that lie in wait for the rest of the week.

"It's absolute carnage," he said. "It's tough. You've got to make sure you've managed the ball well, make sure you're on the fairway, because if you're not, it's really difficult.

"The rough's up. Greens are running fairly well; when you land on them, you're not spinning them, so it's tough to get near pins. It's an absolutely brutal test of golf. It's not long. It's a short, old-style golf course, but what a test.

"It's probably the most uncomfortable I've ever been on the majority of tee shots on par fours. Just knowing that if you hit a poor shot, you're going to be OK, but if you hit a bad shot, you're really punished, which I think that's the way it should be in golf.

"You should be severely punished if you hit a bad shot. But yes, I mean, 4-irons, 5-irons off the tees, and you're still worried about the disaster."

The punishing nature of Delhi Golf Club has left players walking a tightrope of managing risk and reward, and it has made for a highly polarized leaderboard. Thirteen players shot six over or worse, including a 16-over-par 88 from Dylan Nadioo, yet 54 players are under par and within reach of Norgaard's lead.

McIntyre was playing alongside Rory McIlroy, who opened with a solid but unspectacular two-under-par 70. He tees off at 4:50 p.m. local time and will play just a few holes of his second round before sunset, exactly an hour later.

The world No. 2 knows he cannot be too aggressive as he tries to make inroads into the lead. He said: "There's a balance there between taking it on and playing conservatively and hitting the fairways, maybe leaving yourself further back.

"And this is a tournament that's going to be won with mid-irons.

"You've got to hit it in play, obviously, but then you have a lot of seven irons, eight irons, nine irons into the greens, and I think that's where the tournament's going to be won or lost."