Kajang: Sukree Othman took the opening round advantage at the Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) Impian Classic at Impian Golf & Country Club on Wednesday, carding a flawless five-under 67 to lead Iylia Jamil by a one-stroke in the RM150,000 tournament.

S. Sivachandhran, Shaaban Hussin, Khor Kheng Hwai and Lam Yu Shuen were tied for third on 69, while Order of Merit leader Nicholas Fung, Zurie Harun and Iain Steel were joint seventh on two-under-par.

Nicholas Pua, R. Nachimuthu, Rashid Ismail, Arie Fauzi, Daniel Ng, Mohamad Rizal Amin, Mohd Azman Basharudin, Khor Kheng Howe, Tommy Chin and Rahizam Ramli were the other players to finish under-par, having shot matching 71s to be bunched up in a tie for 10th.

A five-time winner on the burgeoning domestic circuit, Sukree found his putting touch on the back nine, draining four birdies to set the early mark.

“The greens were quite slow after the overnight rain, so it took me a while to get the pace on my putts right. I hit the ball solidly and even when I got into trouble, I was able to salvage par and that really helped me,” said Sukree.

Iylia, meanwhile, said his iron-play was spot-on and that made the difference between his bogey-free round and shooting a big score. “I have been playing reasonably well for some time now,” he said.

“But somehow I’ve let it slip away in the second and third rounds. However, my coach and I have been working on trying to correct that and I am looking forward to playing more consistently. I’m still not happy with my putting but hopefully, with a little bit more work, I’ll get it to where I want it.”

Leading first round scores
67 – Sukree Othman
68 – Iylia Jamil
69 – S. Siva Chandhran, Shaaban Hussin, Khor Kheng Hwai, Lam Yu Shuen
70 – Nicholas Fung, Zur’ie Harun, Iain Steel
71 – Nicholas Pua, R. Nachimuthu, Md Rashid Ismai, Arie Fauzi, Daniel Ng, Mohamad Rizal Amin, Mohamad Azman Basharudin, Khor Kheng Howe, Tommy Chin, Rahizam Ramli