Kuala Lumpur: American Danny Masrin raced to snatch the clubhouse lead with an opening seven-under-par 65 after turning on the afterburners in his homeward-nine at the weather-disrupted PGM Rahman Putra Championship on Wednesday.

Masrin, who opened his campaign with a birdie on the first hole, reeled in eight straight pars before capping a sparkling bank-nine 30 thanks to one eagle and four other birdies. He holds a one-shot advantage over Grant Jackson of England, who signed for a 66, at the Rahman Putra Golf Club.

Thai duo Pasamet Pogamnerd and Chanat Sakulpolphaisan, Australian Jake Stirling, Niclas Johansson of Sweden and local prospect Zamri Sariff were bunched in third place following matching 67s at the RM250,000 (approximately US$69,250) Asian Development Tour (ADT) event.

Highly-rated Gavin Green of Malaysia, who is playing in his first event in the play-for-pay ranks, signed for a commendable 70 to tie in 17th position while Order of Merit leader Hsieh Chi-hsien of Chinese Taipei registered a 72 to sit in tied-33rd place.

Play was suspended at 4.10pm local time due to lightning threats. A total of 54 players will return to the Rahman Putra Golf Club to resume their first rounds at 7.20am on Thursday morning with the second round starting at 8.20am.

Masrin’s turning point came at the 10th hole where he sank a 15-foot eagle putt after hitting his second shot to about 194 yards with a seven-iron.

“My ball striking was very good today. I hit good iron-shots and I played really solid. The course is in a great condition but it’s pretty demanding off the tee. You have to keep the ball in play and stay patient out there,” said Masrin, who is playing on a sponsor’s invite this week.

“I took it one shot at a time and leveraged on the birdie chances I had. I managed to minimise the mistakes on course today as well. I am happy with how I played given that it’s my first time playing here,” added the 22-year-old American.

Jackson, a one-time ADT winner, traded seven birdies against one bogey to bounce back from a neck injury which saw him sidelined for the past two months.

As he is still on the road to a full recovery, Jackson reminded himself to stay in the present and not get ahead of himself.

“I played solid. I managed to hit a lot of fairways today to put myself in good position. This is my first event since returning from my break to recover from my neck injury. I tried to play conservative today as I have not fully recovered and I am not really back in competitive mode.

“I am still undergoing treatment at the moment but I managed to get some practice back home in Thailand before coming here. I just want to enjoy my game out there, stay in the present and not get ahead of myself. I will take it one shot at a time. I am happy to be back again,” said the 33-year-old.

The winner of the PGM Rahman Putra Championship will take home a prize purse of US$12,118 and receive six OWGR points while the top six players and ties also earn points based on a sliding scale.


Since it was inaugurated in 2010, the ADT has grown from five events in the first year to a record 22 tournaments this season.


With the Olympic Games looming in 2016 where golf will be reintroduced as a medal sport, players in the region could earn their spots in Rio de Janeiro by earning OWGR points through the Asian Tour and ADT.