Fearless Phachara scorches Sabah
Thai in four-way lead in Asian Tour event
KOTA KINABALU: Young Thai talent Phachara Khongwatmai hit solid approach shots to sign for a five-underpar 66 and grab a share of the opening round lead at the US$300,000 Sabah Masters on Thursday.
The 20-year-old Thai ignited his title ambitions by firing seven birdies against two bogeys to sit atop the leaderboard with Indonesia’s Joshua Andrew Wirawan, Aaron Wilkin and David Gleeson of Australia at the Sutera Harbour Golf and Country Club.
Sabahan Ben Leong returned with a 67 to trail the leading quartet by one shot alongside in-form Kim Joo-Hyung and Lee Sung-Ho of Korea, India’s Rashid Khan and Wang Wei-lun of Taiwan in the tournament, which is the ninth full-field event on the 2019 Asian Tour schedule.
Despite closing with a bogey, Phachara took pride in his efforts as he was able to fire at the flags all day and miss only one green in regulation.
“I hit it really well off the tees today. I made some long putts for birdies. Most were from like 20 feet. Except for the three-putt bogey on the last hole, my ninth, everything else was good. I was able to make a lot of birdies today,” said Phachara.
“The aim was to hit fairway first and then the green. I was able to do that today. Many people struggle on these greens so hitting the fairways and greens are important. I could putt on these greens. I felt comfortable with it.”
Gleeson was delighted to rediscover some of his best form as he capped a solid outing to mark his lowest round yet this season.
Wirawan said, “It’s my first time playing here. I landed in Kota Kinabalu yesterday and managed to squeeze in a practice round in the afternoon. It’s a nice course. You need to hit it good off the tees to score. I am happy with my start.”
A host of players, including Thailand’s Panuphol Pittayarat, Bangladeshi Siddikur Rahman and Khalin Joshi of India, were tied in 10th place after carding matching 68s in the event that is supported by the Tourism Malaysia with an aim to boost tourism in Sabah. LEADING FIRST ROUND SCORES (par-71) 66 — Phachara Khongwatmai (THA), Joshua Andrew
Wirawan (INA), David Gleeson (AUS), Aaron Wilkin (AUS)
67 — Lee Sung-Ho (KOR), Ben Leong (MAS), Rashid Khan (IND), Wang Wei-lun (TPE), Kim Joo-Hyung (KOR)
68 — Jakraphan Premsirigorn (THA), Amir Nazrin (MAS), Siddikur Rahman (BAN), Suttijet Kooratanapisan (THA), Aman Raj (IND), Eom Jae-Woong (KOR), Udayan Mane (IND), Panuphol Pittayarat (THA), Khalin Joshi (IND), Josh Salah (USA), Jack Munro (AUS), Lee Dong-Ha #562 (KOR)
69 — Kerry Sweeney (USA), Josh Younger (AUS), Peradol Panyathanasedh (THA), Kosuke Hamamoto (THA), Rick Kulacz (AUS), Soomin Lee (KOR), Poosit Supupramai (THA), Malcolm Kokocinski (SWE), Liu Yanwei (CHN), Jyoti Randhawa (IND)