Seremban, July 7: Malaysia’s Airil Rizman Zahari and Atthaphon Prathummanee of Thailand shared the honours on day one of the Negeri Sembilan Masters Invitational today.

They both carded seven-under-par 65s at Seremban International Golf Club to take the clubhouse lead by a shot from local favourite Danny Chia at the Seremban International Golf Club.

A one and a half hour rain delay meant that 33 players were unable to complete their rounds and will return early tomorrow morning.

The RM500,000 (approx US$165,000) tournament is also the fourth leg on this year’s ASEAN PGA Tour, and is the most lucrative event on the circuit.

Rizman carded a bogey-free round highlighted by a brilliant inward half of five-under-par 31. The 33-year-old from Kuala Lumpur started his round on the back nine and made birdies on the 11th and 12th. He then scorched through the next nine with birdies on one, three, five, six and nine.

“This is one of our biggest events so it is great to start so well. I played solid and didn’t make any mistakes. My form has been good recently so hopefully that will be the case for the next three days,” said Rizman, who will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of S. Sivachandhran who became the first local champion since the tournament’s inception in 2005.

Rizman is looking for his first win on the ASEAN PGA Tour which is something his co-leader Atthaphon achieved last year for the first time.

Atthaphon ended a frustrating 10 year wait to win his first significant title as a professional when he recorded a surprise victory in the Mercedes-Benz Masters Indonesia. He had come close to giving up the game last year but re-invented himself and burst back into the game helped by an intensive fitness regime.

“Last year’s good form has continued this year so I feel very comfortable at the moment. Today’s round was a good example to show that I am still on the right track,” said Atthaphon, who lived in Malaysia until his early 20s.

He finished second in the season-opening Singha Pattaya Open and recorded top-20 finishes in the next two events on the ASEAN PGA Tour.

Chia, fresh from a victory in the Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) Clearwater Classic a fortnight ago, recorded an eagle and six birdies against two bogeys.

“I rarely play well here as I have trouble reading the greens. I had the same problem today but I hit the ball really well and missed just one green. I had two three putts. I am playing very well right now. I have been using a new driver for the past month and I am hitting it really well,” said Chia.

Thailand’s Supravee Phatam, helped by a hole in one on the par-three 15th, returned a 67 while Chiragh Kumar from India and local Shaaban Hussin carded 68s.

Indonesian number one Rory Hie came in with a 69 along with Thailand’s Namchok Tantipokhakul, Siddikur from Bangladesh, and Filipinos Juvic Pagunsan and Mars Pucay. Pagunsan won this event in 2007.

“It is a really good score on this score as it is not easy. I birdied all the par fives. I feel like I am in control of my game. I have been working very hard, particularly on my tempo. I have a tendency to swing too fast. I worked a bit with Andrew Argus here in Kuala Lumpur last week but most of the time I practice with my dad in Jakarta,” said Hie, who played here for the first time last year and finished in 17th place.

Thailand’s Udorn Duangdecha, winner of last week’s Singha E-San Open, fired a 72 while defending champion Sivachandran carded a 75.

Completed first round scores (Malaysian unless stated)
65 – Airil Rizman Zahari, Atthaphon Prathummanee (THA)
66 – Danny Chia
67 – Supravee Phatam (THA)
68 – Chiragh Kumar (IND), Shaaban Hussin
69 – Rory Hie (INA), Namchok Tantipokhakul (THA), Siddikur (BAN), Mars Pucay (PHI), Juvic Pagunsan (PHI), Mohd Azman Basharuddin (A)
70 – Angelo Que (PHI), Artemio Murakami (PHI), Carl Santos-Ocampo (PHI), Antonio Asisto (PHI), Rashid Ismail, Iylia Jamil, S. Murthy, Panuwat Muenlek (THA), Pongthep Jaewchamnanchao (THA), Sahal Saedin, Solhairy Shariff

Selected:
72 – Chawalit Plaphol (THA), Udorn Duangdecha (THA)
73 – Quincy Quek (SIN), Thanyakon Khrongpha (THA), David Gleeson (AUS), Ben Leong, Scott Barr (AUS)
75 – S. Sivachandran