| Fadhil Yunus |
THAI star Kiradech Aphibarnrat shrugged off jet lag to share the lead with Indonesia’s Danny Masrin in the opening round of the inaugural Richard Mille Brunei Championships after carding an equal six-under-par 65 at The Empire Hotel & Country Club golf course yesterday.
The chasing pack featured a strong international flavour with the trio of USA’s John Catlin, Japan’s Masahiro Kawamura and France’s Erwan Vieilledent trailing the overnight leaders and one shot behind all posting a five-under-66.
The well-travelled Kiradech, who is widely tipped as one of the contenders to lift the first ever Brunei championship title, sank six birdies including in the last two holes on the back nine.
“The way to start six-under is the way to open the opening round. At the moment, I’m at the top of the leader-board but I think I do well in the last couple of holes. To get myself at the top and having the opportunity to play the next few rounds is a fantastic start,” said Kiradech in an interview with the media.
Kiradech recently improved his ranking to 36th in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) following his fifth-place finish at the WGC-Mexico Championship in Mexico last Sunday.
The Thai ace, who embarked a 35-hour long journey to the Sultanate, indicated that it had not been smooth sailing with a lot of travelling from the Honda Classic to the WGC-Mexico Championship where he elaborated that the green speed is much different.
“I feel a little bit tired and I don’t have enough sleep. I woke up at 4am and got two or three hours sleep which is really difficult to play in this type of weather.
“We’re lucky today with the strong winds and I think it’s a little tough playing but I’ll accept it.”
Kiradech will not make any adjustments to his game while enjoying the company of the golfing fans.
“I will enjoy the golf fans around here. You can’t imagine a lot of golfing fans and supporters following this week which surprises me a lot.
“Normally in the ADT (Asian Development Tour) events, there are not many spectators and not many golf fans come and follow especially in really difficult weather.
“They are following around, at least 50 people, which is more than enough for me,” the former Junior World Golf Championships said.
While Kiradech flew in from South America, joint leader Masrin was on another continent from New Zealand after competing in the ISPS Handa New Zealand Open.
Meanwhile, Pengiran Wirahadikusuma Pengiran Salleh completed the opening round as the highest ranked Brunei player in tied-30 place after managing evens with 71.
He was pleased with his game though he admitted that his opening-day result could have gone either way.
“I feel really great. I feel like my round was okay. It could have been better but it could have been worse as well,” said Pengiran Wirahadikusuma in an interview.
“I feel so great with my putting which helped me a lot as without it, it could have gone the other way round. I’m very happy and delighted with the round today.”
Asked if he had performed better than he had expected, he replied, “Yes, definitely! I found out a better swing and luckily I found it. It helps a lot especially my putting.”
The local golfer planned to improve his approach tomorrow, an aspect of the game which he felt amiss but he would have little complaints if he managed to emulate his opening round.
“Hopefully I’ll play better tomorrow and as long as I play well, stay calm and stay relaxed, it’s going to get there,” he said.
Thailand’s Chonlatit Chuenboonngam overcame a sluggish start in the front nine by firing six successive birdies to stay in contention with the leaders, three shots behind with a score of three-under-68 in tied-9th.
Last year’s Order of Merit winner Pannakorn Uthaipas completed an opening round of one-above 72 in tied-43rd place.
