Kuala Lumpur: Brian Locke of the United States shot an opening round of four-under-par 67 to take the clubhouse lead at the Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) MIDF KLGCC Masters while local hope Iain Steel trails by one on Thursday.Locke, who secured a top-20 result in Sarawak last week, posted a flawless round highlighted by two birdies in each half to lead at the weather interrupted RM180,000 (approximately US$60,000) Asian Development Tour (ADT) event.
Steel showed glimpses of a return to form, carding a 68 for tied second place with last year’s ADT Order of Merit runner-up Chiang Chen-chih of Chinese Taipei at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club East course.
Peter Richardson of England, currently second on the Order of Merit, was a further shot back with countryman Nick Redfern at the penultimate event of the 2012 ADT season.
Locke took advantage of the relatively calm morning conditions before lightning forced a two-hour and 40 minute suspension from 2.45pm. Play was eventually called off for the day due to darkness as a total of 60 players will resume the opening round at 7.20 am on Friday.
Steel was also on the favourable side of the draw as the Sabahan-born player traded four birdies against one bogey. He is aiming to revive his career after struggling with a back injury last year and losing his Asian Tour card for the first time since 2006.
“I’ve been playing with a back injury and I haven’t been good in the last 18 months or so. I’m trying to fight and play through the injury. The confidence gets a blow and it hasn’t been an easy road,” said the 42-year-old.
“It is a muscle and tissue problem. I rested for two months and that didn’t help. I don’t know how long it is going to take to recover but I want to keep playing as long as I can,” said Steel.
He hopes to rebuild his confidence and regain entry on the region’s establish Tour through the ADT but admits that it will take time due to the lack of training.
“I cut back on pounding golf balls. With this injury I cut down on hitting balls. I don’t go to the range and hit balls for hours. When I warm up, I hit 20 or 30 golf balls. I have to listen to the experts now and try not to take my body for granted so my career can last a little bit longer,” he added.
Leading first round scores:
67 – Brian Locke (USA)
68 – Chiang Chen-chih (TPE), Iain Steel
69 – Nick Redfern (ENG), Peter Richardson (ENG)
70 – Carl Santos-Ocampo (PHI), Mitchell Slorach (SIN), Charles Davies (WAL)
71 – Kim Gi-whan (KOR), Tseng Hong-sheng (TPE)
71 – Rance De Grussa (AUS)
72 – Daniel Ng (MAS), Unho Park (AUS), Lam Yu Shuen, Akhmal Tarmizee Nazari, Airil Rizman Zahari, Derek Mckenzie (SCO), Mohd Nazri Mohd Zain
