INTERNATIONAL FINAL QUALIFYING - ASIA
FORMER AMATEUR CHAMPION LEADS AT HALF-WAY STAGE
31 March 2009, Sentosa, Singapore: Aiming to reach his fifth Open Championship, Finland’s Mikko Ilonen is leading by two strokes after the completion of the first day’s play at IFQ - Asia. His bogey-free round of 65 has left him clear of a chasing pack which includes Australia’s Terry Pilkadaris and Japan’s Tomohiro Kondo, both finishing on four under-par.
“It was very solid all the way round. I missed only a couple of shots at the 18th hole. Overall, I think the greens are in a pretty good shape and it’s quite easy to control the speed,” said Ilonen, whose best result at The Open, a tied ninth, came at Royal Lytham & St Annes in 2001, one year after winning The Amateur Championship at Royal Liverpool.
“The conditions at the golf course today are quite good as there’s not much wind and it makes it easier to play well,” he added.
Pilkadaris also recorded a blemish-free round with four birdies on the fourth, fifth, fifteenth and eighteenth holes to stake a strong claim for one of the four berths available at Turnberry in July.
“I’m quite pleased with the way I’m hitting the ball. There’re still another eighteen more holes to go and there’s still everything to play for tomorrow,” said the Australian.
One of four players three shots back, Mardan Mamat’s hopes of returning to The Open for the third time remain intact after carding a 68 to end the day in tied-fourth position.
“It’ll be nice to play in The Open again and I miss that feeling. It’s too early to know what’s going to happen but we’ll see how it goes tomorrow,” noted the 41-year old.
Malaysia’s Danny Chia, winner of last year’s IFQ – Asia event, joins Mamat at three under-par. The Asian Tour regular has featured at both The Open 2005 at St Andrews and The Open 2008 at Royal Birkdale. And after day one in Sentosa, he remains in contention for his hat-trick of Open appearances.
“I’ve been hitting the ball quite well, except for a few missed shots,” he explained. “Overall it’s okay and I’m really looking forward to playing well again tomorrow.”
Promising young Indian, Gaganjeet Bhullar, 20, and Singapore amateur, Quincy Quek, 21, are both still in contention having registered scores of two and one under-par respectively.
Play will commence tomorrow at 08.00am with live scores and stories published on Opengolf.com throughout the day.
The full IFQ – Asia entry list, draw and day-one scores can also be found online at Opengolf.com.
31 March 2009, Sentosa, Singapore: Aiming to reach his fifth Open Championship, Finland’s Mikko Ilonen is leading by two strokes after the completion of the first day’s play at IFQ - Asia. His bogey-free round of 65 has left him clear of a chasing pack which includes Australia’s Terry Pilkadaris and Japan’s Tomohiro Kondo, both finishing on four under-par.
“It was very solid all the way round. I missed only a couple of shots at the 18th hole. Overall, I think the greens are in a pretty good shape and it’s quite easy to control the speed,” said Ilonen, whose best result at The Open, a tied ninth, came at Royal Lytham & St Annes in 2001, one year after winning The Amateur Championship at Royal Liverpool.
“The conditions at the golf course today are quite good as there’s not much wind and it makes it easier to play well,” he added.
Pilkadaris also recorded a blemish-free round with four birdies on the fourth, fifth, fifteenth and eighteenth holes to stake a strong claim for one of the four berths available at Turnberry in July.
“I’m quite pleased with the way I’m hitting the ball. There’re still another eighteen more holes to go and there’s still everything to play for tomorrow,” said the Australian.
One of four players three shots back, Mardan Mamat’s hopes of returning to The Open for the third time remain intact after carding a 68 to end the day in tied-fourth position.
“It’ll be nice to play in The Open again and I miss that feeling. It’s too early to know what’s going to happen but we’ll see how it goes tomorrow,” noted the 41-year old.
Malaysia’s Danny Chia, winner of last year’s IFQ – Asia event, joins Mamat at three under-par. The Asian Tour regular has featured at both The Open 2005 at St Andrews and The Open 2008 at Royal Birkdale. And after day one in Sentosa, he remains in contention for his hat-trick of Open appearances.
“I’ve been hitting the ball quite well, except for a few missed shots,” he explained. “Overall it’s okay and I’m really looking forward to playing well again tomorrow.”
Promising young Indian, Gaganjeet Bhullar, 20, and Singapore amateur, Quincy Quek, 21, are both still in contention having registered scores of two and one under-par respectively.
Play will commence tomorrow at 08.00am with live scores and stories published on Opengolf.com throughout the day.
The full IFQ – Asia entry list, draw and day-one scores can also be found online at Opengolf.com.
Labels: OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP
posted by Gillian |
See story on its own page | Wednesday, April 01, 2009
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