New Delhi, Oct. 16 -- Restraint off the tee and accuracy on the fairways. That's been the cheat code to tame the Delhi Golf Club in the build-up to the DP World India Championship, and come rain or shine, the adage holds true. The rain did come on Thursday, bringing a delay lasting four hours and fifty minutes. Through it all, the guiding principles of navigating the narrow fairways and thick roughs stood firmer than ever. When the hooter sounded to mark the end of play, Denmark's Niklas Norgaard had surged to a solo lead, firing six-under and leaving the trio of Tom McKibbin, Thomas Detry, and Eugenio Chacarra one shot behind. Norgaard was in danger of losing his card in late August but finished second at the Husqvarna British Masters and secured another runner-up finish at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship to regain form. The big-hitter carded an eagle, six birdies and two bogeys and revealed he surprised himself on a short and narrow layout that takes the driver out of the equation. "I'm very, very happy," he said. "A bit surprised as well. This should not suit me at all. It pretty much just neutralises my best weapon, which is my driver. But I just managed to make no big mistakes, put the irons in play, and putt pretty well. "I had a tough year until August and I think what happened at Belfry (the venue of the British Masters) made me regain my confidence. I didn't think that I'd been playing that bad but I just needed something to spark it and that's what the Belfry did," he said. Starting on the tenth tee, Norgaard sank birdies on the par 5 14th and par 4 15th holes before bogeying on the 16th. A birdie on the 18th was followed by an eagle in the par 5 first, a 5-iron off the tee setting things in motion. "I thought maybe I'd been playing a little bit too conservatively. So I said, no matter what happens, I am going to go for it. And then I went for it and hit it up to 4 feet," the Dane said. The only other blip in the round was a bogey on the par 3 seventh but Norgaard more than made up for it with birdies on the two closing holes (8th and 9th). Six-time major winner Rory McIlroy and defending champion Tommy Fleetwood were tied-13th after contrasting rounds. While Rory was steady - four birdies and two bogeys - Fleetwood dropped 11 places on his final hole (ninth), thanks to a crushing double bogey. Among the Indians, Om Prakash Chouhan was the top performer, carding 4-under to take the tied fifth spot. As many as 12 players were unable to tee off....