Kuala Lumpur: Berry Henson of the United States shot an opening six-under-par 66 to lead at the PGM-UMW Templer Park Masters but he is trailed closely by Malaysians Shaaban Hussin and Nicholas Fung on Wednesday.
Henson, who is playing on a sponsor’s invitation, turned in 31 before trading one eagle and a birdie against a double bogey on the par four 18th hole to lead by one-shot at the Templer Park Country Club.
Local hope Shaaban and Fung posted matching 67s for tied second alongside Steve Lewton of England at the RM200,000 (approximately US$65,000) Asian Development Tour (ADT) event.
Henson made a 20-feet chip-in eagle from the edge of the 12th green and was on cruise mode before a poor drive cost him two shots on the last.
“It was really simple. I had a few looks for birdies on the back but didn’t take it. I made a double bogey on the 18th hole. It was kind of a weird tee shot,” said Henson, who won his first ADT title in 2011 before going on to win the ICTSI Philippine Open on the Asian Tour.
“It is a lot less stressful compared to the last few weeks. This course suits my game. In the last two weeks (on the Asian Tour) I made a lot of birdies but also a lot of mistakes. I just need to minimise those mistakes,” he added.
Shaaban, who won a local event two weeks ago, hopes to make amends this week after finishing tied 36th at the Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters on his home course on Sunday.
“I was very disappointed with last week’s result because it was on my home course. But it is okay. A new chapter is coming and I’m happy with my score. I really enjoyed my round and I hope I can continue this form for another three days,” said the sweet-hitting Malaysian.
The top three players on the Order of Merit at the end of the season earn Asian Tour cards for the following year.
All ADT events in 2013 will also afford Official World Golf Ranking points, which will help players qualify for the World Cup of Golf in November and the 2016 Olympics in Rio De Janeiro.
Leading first round scores:
66 - Berry HENSON (USA)
67 - Shaaban HUSSIN (MAS) , Nicholas FUNG (MAS) , Steve LEWTON (ENG)
68 - Michael TRAN (VIE) , Blake MCGRORY (AUS) , Michael MOORE (AUS)
69 - Lindsay RENOLDS (CAN) , James BOWEN (USA)
70 - Mohd Iylia JAMIL (MAS) , Iain STEEL (MAS) , Wolmer MURILLO (VEN) , Adam NOVAK (USA) , Mohamad Azman BASHARUDIN (MAS)
71 - Lion GOH (A) (MAS) , Masaru TAKAHASHI (JPN) , Shane MCHENRY (AUS) , S. Murthy (MAS) , Miguel TABUENA (PHI) , M. Sasidaran (MAS) , KHOR Kheng Hwai (MAS)
72 - Faridil ATRAS (MAS) , Sukree OTHMAN (MAS) , Timothy TANG (HKG) , Kodai ICHIHARA (JPN) , Kenneth TOBUSE (MAS) , David LUTTERUS (AUS) , Peter RICHARDSON (ENG)
73 - Timothy LOW (SIN) , Jack MUNRO (AUS) , Dino ABDILLAH (MAS) , Mitsuhiko HASHIZUME (JPN) , Danny CHIA (MAS) , Darren TAN (AUS) , Mohd. Nazri MOHD ZAIN (MAS) , Adam BLYTH (AUS) , CHOO Tze Huang (SIN) , Takuya YAMAUCHI (JPN) , Yuzo ICHIKAWA (JPN) , Airil Rizman ZAHARI (MAS) , Mars PUCAY (PHI
