Jakarta: Chan Shih-chang of Chinese Taipei shot a five-under-par 67 to snatch the opening round lead at the inaugural US$60,000 Jakarta Classic at the Imperial Klub Golf on Wednesday.
Chan posted a bogey-free round that was highlighted by five birdies to take a one-shot lead over Indonesia’s Johannes Dermawan and Malaysia’s Arie Fauzi who posted matching 68s at Asian Development Tour (ADT) event.
England’s Shaun Malone carded a 69 to secure third place while American James Bowen, Indonesia’s Andik Mauludin, Australia’s Jake Stirling and Japan’s Mitsuhiko Hashizume are bunched in equal fifth place on matching 70s at the Jakarta Classic, which is the seventh leg on the ADT schedule.
“Overall, I’m very happy with how I’ve played today. I shot a total of five birdies and did not make a single bogey,” said Chan, who is playing in his first event (of the year) on the ADT, which is the feeder circuit to the premier Asian Tour.
Chan topped his country’s Order of Merit in 2010 and has been touted as the next generation of stars to emerge from Chinese Taipei following the likes of Asian Tour winners, Lin Wen-tang, Chan Yih-shin and Lu Wen-teh.
The 27-year-old believes his recent good run of form will provide him with a timely confidence boost as he goes in search of his maiden ADT win this week.
“I’m feeling good about my game. I’ve been in a good run of form lately and I played pretty well at a charity golf event back home last week. Hopefully I can continue to produce more good results this week,” said Chan.
Meanwhile Dermawan credited his solid iron play for an encouraging start that has seen him emerged as the leading local after day one.
“My iron play was good today. My putts were not going in as much as I wanted them to on the front nine but luckily things got better on the back nine. I’m happy with my result today although my driving was not as solid,” said the father of two, who is also a current general manager of a golf club in Indonesia.
The top three players on the ADT Order of Merit at the end of the season will earn Asian Tour cards for the following year.
All ADT events in 2013 will be afforded with Official World Golf Ranking points, which is a great boost to players as it helps them to qualify for the World Cup of Golf in November and the 2016 Olympics in Rio De Janeiro.
The winner of the Jakarta Classic will receive a total of six world ranking points while the top six players and ties will earn points based on a sliding scale.
The Official Water for this week’s Jakarta Classic is Jeju Sam Da Soo, one of the leading Korean Water Brands.
Leading first round scores:
67 – CHAN Shih-chang (TPE)
68 – Johannes DERMAWAN (INA), Arie FAUZI (MAS)
69 – Shaun MALONE (ENG)
70 – Jake STIRLING (AUS), Andik MAULUDIN (INA), Mitsuhiko HASHIZUME (JPN), James BOWEN (USA)
71 – Mitchell SLORACH (SIN), Benny KASIADI (INA), Lindsay RENOLDS (CAN), Michael MOORE (AUS), I Nengah DHARMA (INA)
72 – HUANG Tao (TWN), Blake MCGRORY (AUS), Keegan KAM (MAS), KOH Deng Shan (SIN)
