By Rahul Banerji
Veer Ahlawat and Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond went 9 under par for the first-round lead at the $1 million 55th Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.
With their 62s, Ahlawat and Janewattananond were a stroke up on Canada’s Richard T. Lee, and both said they had benefited from the off-season break coming into the season-opener.
The Thai, a seven-time winner on the Asian Tour handed in a bogey-free card that included seven birdies and an off the green putt for eagle.
Malaysians Gavin Green and Khavish Varadan shot 64s at The Mines Resort and Golf Club with a good part of the 150-strong field bunched up behind the leaders in large stacks.
Karandeep Kochhar and Ajeetesh Sandhu were 3 under for the day and down in a share of 37th place, an indication of closely packed the upper half of the field was.
Pre-event favourite, Gaganjeet Bhullar, third placed on the Order of Merit, though had a disappointing first day with a 3 over 74.
Two-time Indian Open winner S.S.P. Chawrasia and Chikkarangappa S. were tied for 58th on 2 under 69, Yuvraj Singh Sandhu and Honey Baisoya with 1 under 70s were T80, Rashid Khan was T99 on level par 71 and Jeev Milkha Singh had a 72 on the day.
Birdie rush
Ahlawat, looking for a first Asian Tour win, dropped his only shot of the day on 18 after 10 birdies including three in a row from holes 15 to 17.
“Really solid round, I drove the ball well and hit some really good second shots,” Ahlawat said on the Asian Tour website.
“Hitting them to seven, eight feet and holing them. Just dropped that shot on 18, where I got the wind direction wrong.”
The lanky DLF GCC-based golfer played his first full season on the Asian Tour in 2022, when he finished tied for fifth at the Singapore Open, his best result to date.
“My game has been feeling very good, just like my putting has been very good,” he said.
“I really worked on my body during the break. I tried to gain some yardage and I think I did gain a little bit but not much, to be honest. My goal is to finally get a win this year and then have a lot of top 10s!”
Good break
Added Thailand’s Jazz, a seven-time Asian Tour winner, “Really good start to the week and the year as well. A good long break seems to have done me some good. I got a lot of rest and played some golf.
As preferred lies were being played their 62s could not count as official course records, meaning American Tiger Woods’ 63 at the World Cup of Golf in 1999 is still the mark the beat.
Gavin Green, Asian Tour topper in 2017, was also bogey-free, with an eagle and five birdies.
“Not many big mistakes, I gave myself a lot of chances. I hit it good enough,” he said.
Chinese-Taipei’s Lee Chieh-po returned a 65 along with Australian Kevin Yuan, England’s Steve Lewton, Filipino Justin Quiban, Korean Lion Park, John Catlin of the US and long-hitting Thai Danthai Boonma.
US golfer Trevor Simsby, who won this event when it was last played in 2020 fired a 71 for a share of 99th place.
The Malaysian Open is part of The Open Qualifying Series and will see the leading three players, not otherwise exempt, qualify for The Open at Royal Troon Golf Club in July.
Also read: Asian Tour tees off with Malaysian Open at KL from Thursday
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