Shandong, China; June 2: Highly rated Australian rookie Brendan Smith fired an unblemished six-under-par 66 to take the first round lead in the US$1 million Nanshan China Masters today.
The 21 year old, who represented his country as an amateur for the past three years, showed his quality by firing an eagle and four birdies at Nanshan International Golf Club’s Danling Cuiyuan Course.
He leads by one stroke from countrymen Peter Wilson and Leigh McKechnie in the fifth event of 2011 on OneAsia.China’s Wu Ashun came in with a 68 to lead the formidable field from the mainland.
Said Smith: “ It was great and I will try to keep on what I have done today for the next three days. My driving was very good. It is always the strength of my game. I only missed two fairways.”
He made his eagle on the par four ninth where he holed his second from 103 yards using a 58 degree wedge. “Yeah, it was great and gave me lots of confidence,” added Smith, who finished eighth at the PGA Tour of Australasia’s Qualifying School.
Wilson, who in contrast to the leader turned professional 11 year ago, also returned a bogey free round. “I was teaching my caddie some English and she was teaching me some Chinese. It helped relax me and kept my mind off things,” said Wilson.
Wu, aged 25, has long been one of the country’s most promising golfers and proved that with a strong opening round made up of five birdies and one bogey. “I feel pretty good about my score today. Winning on OneAsia would be a big deal and it means a lot to me especially in China. I finished in 10th place in the Indonesia PGA Championship at the start of the year and that gave me a lot of confidence,” said Wu, who is based in Shanghai.
Korean Kim Dae-hyun, one of the pre-tournament favourites who claimed last year’s GS Caltex Maekyung Open in Korea, was one of six players who shot 69.
“I am pretty satisfied with my score. My game is becoming better as I start to play more events overseas. I have not been feeling too well the past couple of days and it affected my game slightly but I was very focused today. The golf course here is suitable for me. There aren’t many obstacles so I was in a rather relaxed state of mind,” said the Korean, who finished second on last year’s OneAsia Order of Merit.
Andre Stolz from Australia, currently ranked second on OneAsia Order of Merit, carded a 70.
China’s Liang Wenchong, a three-time winner on OneAsia who claimed last year’s Merit list title in 2010, opened with a 74 along with Australian Kurt Barnes, winner of last month’s SK Telecom Open in Korea.
Leading first round scores
66 – Brendan Smith (AUS)
67 – Peter Wilson (AUS), Leigh McKechnie (AUS)
68 – Wu Ashun (CHN)
69 – Kim Dae-hyun (KOR), David Bransdon (AUS), Andrew Martin (AUS), Rohan Blizard (AUS), Gao Shanghong (CHN), Jamie Arnold (AUS)
70 – Ted Oh (KOR), David McKenzie (AUS), Michael Long (NZL), Leigh Deagan (AUS), Gu Cuilin (CHN), Jason Norris (AUS), Andre Stolz (AUS)
Selected:
73 – Nicholas Fung (MAS)
Source: www.oneasia.asia
