Batu Gajah: Haziq Hamizan carded a brilliant six-under 66 opener to take a slim lead at the rain-hit Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) Clearwater Classic today.
Despite a one hour and twenty minutes delay t0 the start due to rain, the 24-year-old former national proved clinical at Clearwater Sanctuary Resort, posting a blemish-free round including six birdies to lead S. Murthy by one stroke in the RM125,000 event.
A total of 78 players including six amateurs teed off the tournament, which was the fifth stop on the expanded PGM Tour.
The trio of Nicholas Fung, Anis Helmi Hassan and Lim Eng Seng were a further two shots behind after matching three-under 69s while defending champion Danny Chia and Kemarol Baharin carded a two-under 70 to stay within touch of the leaders. PGM Order of Merit champion R. Natchimuthu, Shaaban Hussin, Chan Soo Keong, C.M Chong and Azman Basharuddin were bunched up at one-under 71.
With only two weeks left before he makes his maiden professional appearance at the Maybank Malaysian Open, Haziq was raring with confidence, notwithstanding the wet conditions. “I think I can be fairly happy with my performance today as I hit 11 out of 14 fairways, 15 greens and had 27 putts. I knew from the word go that it was best to avoid getting into trouble as it was pretty soggy out there, so I stuck to my gameplan and hit the necessary fairways and greens in regulation ” said Haziq, who finished tied-seventh in the maiden edition last year.
Still hunting for his first victory in the paid ranks, Haziq conceded that it was still too early to tell if he will be able to join the winners’ circle on the burgeoning domestic tour.
“I would be lying if I said the thought hasn’t crossed my mind yet but it’s still early days. There’s still much golf to be played and it’s going to be crucial if the weather remains like this to be less technical and just keeping the ball in play. I like to stay within myself and not get carried away about getting that victory,” he added, noting that the highlight of his round came on the 14th, when he rolled in a birdie from 28 feet.
With one runner-up finish already to his name this year, Murthy put in another consistent round, mixing seven birdies and two bogeys to stay one behind.
“I played well today, my iron play was good and I must say, I was quite unfortunate to miss an hole-in-one on the par-three 11th, which could have seen me take a share of the lead,” shared the 40-year-old.
Mohd Khir was the best placed amateur after an opening 78 while juniors Lucas Yee (13) and Amir Nazrin Jailani (15) stole the thunder, performing better than seasoned professionals with rounds of 78 and 79 respectively. Both players started on amateur invites by the host club.
Leading first round scores
66 – Haziq Hamizan
67 – S. Murthy
69 – Nicholas Fung; Anis Helmi Hassan; Lim Eng Seng
70 – Danny Chia; Kemarol Baharin
71 – R. Natchimuthu; Shaaban Hussin; Chan Soo Keong; C.M Chong; Azman Basharuddin
72 – Jeremiah Kim; Phillip Tan; Shaifubari Muda
