Melaka: Locals Md Rashid Ismail and Hanafiah Jamil took the first round lead alongside England’s Peter Richardson after posting matching five-under-par 67s at the Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) ADT Masters at A’Famosa.
Korea’s Kim Ji-hoon signed for a 68 to take fourth place while Singapore’s Quincy Quek, Australia’s Unho Park and Sabahan Lam Yu Shuen were bunched in fifth place on 69 at the RM180,000 (approximately US$60,000) Asian Development Tour (ADT) event, which is the third ADT event to be staged in conjunction with the local burgeoning tour this season.
A bunch of seven players were four shots off the pace, including notably four-time PGM Tour winner R. Nachimuthu and PGM Johor Masters winner Luke Bluemink, who currently leads the ADT Order of Merit race.
Hanafiah was delighted with his opening performance after he marked his card with four birdies, one bogey and an eagle-three on the par-five seventh at the A’Famosa Golf Resort in Malacca. The Malaysian, who played on the Asian Tour in 2008 but lost his card the following year, is confident that he can play his way back into the main Tour after enjoying a strong start.
“I’m really pleased with how I’ve played today. The course was in perfect condition for scoring and if I can continue playing like how I did today, I should get a good result this week,” said Hanafiah. “I enjoyed playing on the Asian Tour and I hope to make my return starting with a good performance this week,” added the 25-year-old.
Meanwhile Rashid credited his solid putting for giving him a share of the lead, which he is determined to hold on to as the week progresses with a third PGM Tour title in sight.
“I putted really well which was the key to my good start today. I couldn’t have asked for more. I hope that my good form will continue throughout the week” said Rashid, who’s round of seven birdies against two bogeys left him in the chase for a third PGM Tour title.
Leading first round scores
67- Peter Richardson (ENG), Md Rashid Ismail, Hanafiah Jamil
68 – Kim Ji-hoon (KOR)
69 – Lam Yu Shuen, Unho PARK (AUS), Quincy Quek (SIN)
70 – Sukree Othman, Akhmal Tarmizee (MAS), Go Nakauchi (JPN)
71 – R. Nachimuthu, Luke Bleumink (AUS), Konstantin Liu (GER), Daniel Owen (ENG), Glenn Joyner (AUS), Airil Rizman Zahari, Greg Moss (USA)
72 – Kenneth De Silva, Mitsuhiko Hashizume (JPN), Man O-Im (USA), Rizal Amin, Ben Leong, Gavin Flint (AUS), Tetsurou Ryu (JPN), Mitchell Slorach (SIN), Wilson Choo, Kenichi Sawada (JPN)
