Que shares lead with opening 65
Angelo Que rebounded from an opening hole bogey at the back with seven birdies to share the first round lead with Japanese Azuma Yano at six-under 65 in the Myanmar Open at the Pun Hlaing Golf Club in Yangon yesterday.
Out to atone for his late- hole foldup in the Singapore Open last Sunday, Que quickly shrugged off first-hole jitters with solid play the rest of the way, gunning down seven birdies while saving pars three times to negate a missed green bogey mishap on the par-4 10th.
“I’ve been hitting it solid since last week and if I keep doing what I’ve been doing then I’ll be okay. I told myself it was the first hole and there are so many holes left so be patient. That’s what happened and I made the birdies,” said Que.
Que was just one down off the Thai Prayad Marksaeng with three holes to play in last week’s Singapore Open but dropped three strokes, including a double-bogey on the closing par-5 of Sentosa’s Serapong course which he birdied in the first two days and eagled in the third round. He wound up at joint 11th. “I’m not going to force anything. I talked to my wife and we talked about what happened in Singapore Open. I played solid in the first 17 holes and it was only the last hole that gave it away (finished with double bogey),” recalled Que, a former three- time Asian Tour winner.
“I really forced that driver. If I hit a different club, the worst score I would have made would have been a five (par). I wouldn’t have won the tournament but at least all that effort for 71 holes wouldn’t have gone wasted on one hole. I’ve learnt my lesson and hopefully it will stick.”
Yano, a three-time winner in Japan, bettered Que’s birdie binge with eight but the Japanese fumbled with two bogeys at the par-71 layout as the duo took a one-stroke lead over Koreans KT Kim and Junggon Hwang and Japanese Makoto Inoue, who all carded 66s.