Bogor, Indonesia: Tour rookie Kevin Techakanokboon and Filipino stalwart Antonio Lascuna fired identical four-under-par 67s to share the clubhouse lead in the opening round of the weather-disrupted Combiphar Golf Invitational on Wednesday.
The inaugural US$60,000 Asian Development Tour (ADT) event was suspended for over two hours in the afternoon due to lightning threats before play was abandoned at 6pm local time due to fading light.
A total of 45 players will return on Thursday at 6.15am to complete their rounds at the Royal Tulip Gunung Geulis Golf Resorts in Bogor, a city in the West Java province of Indonesia. The second round will commence at 6.30am.
Local amateur Rifqi Alam came in one shot back to take third place with Victor Osterby of Denmark and Thailand’s Panuwat Muenlek while another local prospect Indra Hermawan signed for a 69 to sit in sixth alongside Toni Ferrer of Spain and American Micah Lauren Shin.
Kevin, who joined the play-for-pay ranks at the start of the year, surprised even himself when he fired one eagle and four birdies against two bogeys to take the clubhouse lead.
“I honestly do not have any high expectations. I didn’t get much sleep last night. I just tried to stay patient because it’s easy to get frustrated on this course with the way the greens are sloped,” said Kevin, who rammed in a 40-foot eagle putt on par-five 16.
“I hit a good tee shot which left me with a seven-iron for my second shot. I hit it just short of the front edge of the green and holed about a 40-foot putt for the eagle,” added the 24-year-old Thai.
Kevin, who came through the Asian Tour Qualifying School earlier in January, credited his solid drives for a commendable start to his campaign at the Combiphar Golf Invitational.
“I drove the ball well and put myself in good positions to try and make birdies. I did pretty well in limiting careless errors and avoided making bogeys. It’s important to hit as many fairways as you can because the course is very wet. You need to leave yourself with uphill putts with your approach shots too,” he said.
All ADT events offer Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points. The winner will receive six OWGR points while the top six players and ties will also earn points based on a sliding scale.
The top-five finishers on the final Order of Merit will secure their Asian Tour cards for 2017.
Leading first round results:
67 – Kevin TECHAKANOKBOON (THA), Antonio LASCUNA (PHI)
68 – Rifqi ALAM (A) (INA), Victor OSTERBY (DEN), Panuwat MUENLEK (THA)
69 – Indra HERMAWAN (INA), Toni FERRER (ESP), Micah Lauren SHIN (USA)
70 – Mitchell SLORACH (SGP), Danny MASRIN (INA), Blake SNYDER (USA), Arie IRAWAN (MAS), Sam CYR (USA), Paul HARRIS (USA), John CATLIN (USA)
