Shah Alam [SELANGOR]: Arie Irawan justified his late invite to the Maybank Championship with a fine opening round of six-under 66 at Saujana Golf & Country Club on Thursday.
The 26-year-old returned with a flawless card of six birdies to lie three strokes adrift of first round leader Marc Warren of Scotland, who charmed The Cobra with a scintillating nine-under effort.
How the Malaysians fared (Round 1) >
66 – Arie Irawan
68 – Gavin Kyle Green
70 – Nicholas Fung, Ben Leong, Kemarol Baharin
72 – Danny Chia
73 – Daeng Abdul Rahman Abdul Aziz (A)
75 – Sukree Othman
76 – Airil Rizman Zahari, Khor Kheng Hwai
78 – Sasidaran Muthiah, Mohd Iylia Jamil
79 – Low Khai Jei
80 – Nachimuthu Ramasamy
81 – Sivachandhran Supramaniam
Arie, who began on the tenth tee, drained five birdies in a row around the turn before adding another birdie on hole four to tie for joint third alongside five others, including 2016 Masters champion Danny Willett, American Peter Uihlein and seven-time Asian Tour winner Gaganjeet Bhullar of India.
“Got off to a patient start, made the right decisions and then, the birdies came. Made five birdies in a row and another one on the fourth. To make no bogeys here is great as making a lot birdies and I’m pleased to be in a good position,” said the two-time Asian Development Tour winner.
The Malaysian was delighted to regain his form of late after suffering a major heartbreak at the Asian Tour Qualifying School in January when he finished just a shot shy off full playing rights.
“I played good on the last day in Bangladesh (last week). I shot a 68 and no bogeys too. So, I’m on a bogey run for 36 holes, which is good. I learned a lot from playing in the Bashundhara Bangladesh Open and from playing in Q-School. Just finding ways to get better. The preparation for this week has been good. My caddies and I did our homework and it helped,” he added.
Maybank ambassador Gavin Kyle Green overcame some wayward driving to shoot a round of four-under 68 to stay in contention in the US$3 million tournament, sanctioned by the European and Asian Tours.
“I got off to quite a slow start. I birdied the first hole but couldn’t get comfortable with the driver for a while. I gave myself a lot of looks. I was comfortable and not pressured. I stayed really calm and went with my game plan. I kept everything in play, hit a lot of two irons and when I needed to I pulled out my driver.
“I would have taken this score at the start of the week. This is not an easy course. It is tough to read the greens. I was caught a couple of times. My second shot on the eighth hole hit the pin and I had a 15-foot eagle putt but missed it. That was my highlight,” shared Green.
Nicholas Fung overcame a sluggish start to stay on course for his third-straight cut in as many starts on the Asian Tour this year.
The Sabahan returned with a two-under 70 – an effort matched by compatriots Ben Leong and Kemarol Baharin.
” I was a bit shaky on my front nine. Took a while to get into rhythm eventhough I birdied the first hole. Maybe felt a little bit of pressure playing at home but I’m happy with the round. Just need to keep my thought process simple and play a more attacking game. I need to sharpen my approach shots into the green to give myself more birdie chances,” added Fung.
