Bertam: Thailand’s Nakarintra Ratanakul fired a blemish-free six-under 66 to lead the way after the opening round of the Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) ASEAN Penang Masters on Wednesday.
The University of Purdue graduate was a single shot ahead of local duo Muhammad Arie Irawan Ahmad Fauzi and Shaaban Hussin in the RM180,000 (US$60,000) event co-sanctioned with the ASEAN PGA Tour at Penang Golf Resort.
Former PGM Order of Merit champion R. Nachimuthu carded a four-under 68 to take a share of fourth alongside Vietnam’s Michael Tran, Chirat Jirasuwan of Thailand and another domestic challenger Mohd Rizal Amin, with a further eleven players bunched together with matching 69s on a tight leaderboard.
Nakarinta drained four straight birdies from the first before adding two more either side of the turn to get his campaign off to a bright start. “I did not make any silly mistakes and took advantage of the fact that we were playing preferred lies,” said the 24-year-old Bangkok native.
Rookie Arie Fauzi, who lost out in a play-off for the PGM Kelantan Classic a fortnight ago, traded six birdies with a bogey to continue his recent upswing of form as he finds his feet on the burgeoning domestic circuit.
“I have been striking the ball well and am playing with more confidence now,” said the lanky former national. “With my college commitments over, I now have more time to practise and focus on golf and that has definitely helped me settle down more.”
Meanwhile, Shaaban was happy to resume normal service after a disappointing outing with his Malaysian compatriots at the Prudential Causeway Trophy over the weekend and last year’s runner-up was pleased with opening effort, which included an eagle on the par-five two.
“This course is much shorter to start with, so it plays much easier than what we experienced in Singapore,” said Shaaban. “I felt comfortable out there and hit the ball solidly. Hopefully, I can continue like that until the end of the fourth day.”
Leading first round scores (Malaysian unless stated otherwise)
66 – Nakarintra Ratanakul (Tha)
67 – Arie Fauzi, Mohd Shaaban Hussin
68 – R Nachimuthu, Michael Tran (Viet), Mohd Rizal Amin, Chirat Jirasuwan (Tha)
69 – Mohd Zurie Harun, Lim Eng Seng, Mohd Sukree Othman, Kurnia Herishandy (Ina), Akhmal Tarmizee, Khor Kheng Hwai, Apichart Papitak (Tha), Justin Han (Sin), Adam Shaw, Ratchapol Juntavara (Tha), Alwarith Damian
