Kajang, Selangor; May 5: A handful of Malaysian professionals kept pace with leader Himmat Rai of India after the first round of the RM200,000 PGM-ADT-CCM Impian Classic today.
M. Sasidaran was tied for third with Chinese Taipei’s Chang Tse-peng on 66, trailing leader Rai by two strokes with Filipino Artemio Murakami on second after a seven-birdie round of 65. C.M. Chong emerged as the surprise package with a 67 while Hanafiah Jamil was a further shot back on 68. Asian Tour regulars Ben Leong, Iain Steel and Danny Chia all carded 69s after a glorious day for golf at the Impian Golf & Country Club.
A week after finishing third in the Asian Development Tour’s Clearwater Classic, Sasidaran was back in his elements and credited local knowledge for his fiery start. Teeing off the back-nine, Sasidaran mixed seven birdies against a sole bogey to finish as the best-placed Malaysian on six-under-par. “I hit the ball well and putted nicely. It’s a golf course where you can score well. It’s not a long course and we’re familiar with it. Last week I finished third and it was good. I’m in form and I feel like I’m swinging well with my new irons,” he said.
Story of the day belonged to the 38-year-old Chong, who enjoyed a blistering round despite spending more time these days concentrating on his businesses which include a golf shop and academy. “I still have a great interest in playing the game, otherwise I won’t be here. It’s always fun to pull off a good round in a tournament. It’s still in me and I like to play,” said Chong.
“I changed my putter last week and it seems to be working well. I made a few putts from 15 feet and obviously, I hit the ball quite well and I am happy. I didn’t have any major hiccups,” he said.
Leading first round scores
64: Himmat Rai (Ind)
65: Artemio Murakami (Phi)
66: Chang Tse-peng (Tpe), M. Sasidaran (Mas)
67: Will Yanagisawa (US), C.M. Chong (Mas)
68: Hanafiah Jamil (Mas), Jonathan Moore (US)
69: Hsu Chia-jen (Tpe), Iain Steel (Mas), Ben Leong (Mas), Danny Chia (Mas), Lindsay Renolds (Can), Yuki Osami (Jpn).
