Thursday, November 12, 2009

Unknown Thai leads Hong Kong Open with eight-under 62

NEWS RELEASE FROM THE ASIAN TOUR
Unheralded Udorn Duangdecha of Thailand sprang a surprise of his own when he upstaged the tournament’s marquee names to take the first round lead at the UBS Hong Kong Open today.
The Thai signalled his strong intention of winning his maiden Asian Tour title when he took charge of the US$2.5million showpiece by returning with an opening eight-under-par 62.
Robert-Jan Derksen of the Netherlands, who had earlier taken the morning lead, heads into the second round in second place on 63 while Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee together, with defending champion Lin Wen-tang, England’s David Dixon and France’s Gregory Bourdy, are a further shot back in tied-third on 64.
Udorn earned his right to play in this event after securing one of the three spots at the international qualifiers last month and he did not take long to show why he deserved to be among the elite field this week by mixing 10 birdies against two bogeys to take the outright lead.
“It might surprise everyone out there but I don’t think it surprised me too much. After all, I’ve been in this position before. I played according to my strategy and it worked out well,” said the 38-year-old Thai.
The scores for the Thai would have been even lower if not for the fading light at the closing ninth which resulted in a bogey for him.
“It was a pity that I bogeyed my last hole as I really couldn’t see the hole from where I was. I three-putted that shot as it was really getting dark. But I’ll get to tee off in the morning tomorrow, so it’ll be better,” said Udorn.
Derksen, who is seeking his first win since 2005, opened his campaign with birdies on the third, fourth and eighth.
The Dutchman then coloured his card with more red on the 13th, 14th and 15th before a lone bogey on the par-four 16th spoilt his otherwise perfect card.
“You’ve to be patient here, that’s what I have learnt. I’ve been here five times and I think that really helps. I was patient today and took my chances. The greens are always a problem for us Europeans. You learn but you never really know,” said the Derksen.
“I didn’t hit many bad shots at all, just one three putt on the 16th. Other than that, I managed to hit all the greens and fairways and gave myself plenty of chances,” added Derksen.
Meanwhile Lin, a five-time Asian Tour winner began his title defence with birdies on the 10th and 11th in his opening back-nine before continuing his birdie run with another on the 17th.
The 35-year-old reached the turn in 33, before returning home with further birdies on the fourth, sixth and ninth at the 6,722 yards par-70 composite course at the Hong Kong Golf Club.
“I’m very pleased with how I played today especially with my opening two birdies that got my round underway. That gave me the confidence to go on and play well,” said Lin.
Lin broke the decade long stranglehold European golfers had on this event and will now attempt to become only the second player in the history of the event to make a successful defence of the title since compatriot, Hsieh Yung-yo did the honours in 1963 and 1964.
The five-time Asian Tour winner knows that he has a chance to follow the illustrious footsteps of his fellow countryman and believes that his mental strength is key to his title defence.
“I’ll be lying if I say that there’s no pressure. We’re professional sportsmen and we all play to win. If you don’t win, a second place or last place finish will not make any difference,” said Lin.
“I hope to maintain my form, play well over the next three rounds and most importantly stay focus for the challenges ahead,” added Lin.
Thongchai also kept his Asian Tour Order of Merit hopes alive and showed why he is one of Asia’s most celebrated players with another masterful display.
The Thai is bidding to become Asia’s number one for the third time by winning the Asian Tour Order of Merit title after having won the crown in 2001 and 2004.
The 40-year-old also holds the most number of wins on the Asian Tour with 12 victories and is determined to end his season on a high.
“It has been a long season and it’ll be nice to end it off with a win. But I don’t want to think too much into that just yet as the field is very strong this week and anyone has an equal chance of winning,” said Thongchai.
“I try to do my best this year. My game is getting better right now because I’ve been working very hard with my coach and I put in a lot of effort myself. I just want to play my own game and do well,” added the Thai.
Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy posted a 66 to take a share of 16th place together with Asian Tour honorary member, Yang Yong-eun and China’s Liang Wen-chong.
On a shortish course of under 7,000yd, the scoring was low and Ian Poulter's 68 earned him no higher than joint 40th at the end of the first day. Marc Warren was on the same mark, a shot ahead of Colin Montgomerie and Scott Drummond.
The UBS Hong Kong Open is Hong Kong’s oldest professional sporting event, having started in 1959 and is sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour.
FIRST ROUND SCORES
Royal Hong Kong Golf Club, Fanling.
Par 70
62 Udorn Duangdecha (Tha)
63 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned)
64 David Dixon, Wen-Tang Lin (Tpe), Gregory Bourdy (Fra), Thongchai Jaidee (Tha)
65 Rory Sabbatini (Rsa), Wei Chih Lu (Tha), Charl Schwartzel (Rsa), Ben Curtis (USA), Rhys Davies, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind), Tony Carolan (Aus), Kodai Ichihara (Jpn), Mark Foster
66 Francesco Molinari (Ita), Ter-Chang Wang (Tpe), Peter Lawrie, Chinnarat Phadungsil (Tha), Raphael Jacquelin (Fra), Rory McIlroy, Mark O'Meara (USA), Gaganjeet Bhullar (Ind), Yong-eun Yang (Kor), Wen-chong Liang (Chn), Bradley Dredge, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind), Lee Westwood
67 Rahil Gangjee (Ind), Anton Haig (Rsa), Graeme McDowell, Robert Dinwiddie, Lian-Wei Zhang (Chn), Unho Park (Aus), Kenneth Ferrie, Simon Khan, Juvic Pagunsan (Phi), Ignacio Garrido (Spa), Danny Chia (Mal)
68 Anders Hansen (Den), Mars Pucay (Phi), Simon Dyson, Graeme Storm, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa), Marc Warren, Prayad Marksaeng (Tha), Michael Jonzon (Swe), Airil-Rizman Zahari (Mal), Gregory Havret (Fra), Shiv Kapur (Ind), Darren Beck (Aus), Scott Strange (Aus), Chris Rodgers, Mark Brown (Nzl), Jason Knutzon (USA), Andrew McLardy (Rsa), Mardan Mamat (Sin), Kiradech Aphibamrat (Tha), Taichiro Kiyota (Jpn), Iain Steel (Mal), Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa), Keith Horne (Rsa), Ian Poulter, James Kamte (Rsa)
69 Gaurav Ghei (Ind), David Howell, Colin Montgomerie, Scott Drummond, Andrew Dodt (Aus), Darren Clarke, Johan Edfors (Swe), Anthony Kang (USA), Jamie Donaldson, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra), David Bransdon (Aus), Pablo Martin (Spa)
70 Mikko Ilonen (Fin), Oliver Wilson, Jean Van de Velde (Fra), Simon Yates, Simon Griffiths, Danny Lee (Nzl), Stephen Dodd, Hendrik Buhrmann (Rsa), Artemio-hiromasa Murakami (Phi), Niclas Fasth (Swe), Shun yat jason Hak (Hkg), Markus Brier (Aut), Chapchai Nirat (Tha), Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa), Daniel Vancsik (Arg), Marcus Both (Aus), Tano Goya (Arg)
71 Bryan Saltus (USA), Soren Kjeldsen (Den), Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind), Christian Cevaer (Fra), Jeppe Huldahl (Den), Magnus A Carlsson (Swe), Neven Basic (Aus), Derek Fung (Hkg), Chih-bing Lam (Sin), Chawalit Plaphol (Tha), Robert Karlsson (Swe), Scott Hend (Aus), Scott Barr (Aus), Joong Kyung Mo (Kor), Anirban Lahiri (Ind), Thomas Levet (Fra)
72 Inn-choon Hwang (Kor), Nicholas Redfern, David Gleeson (Aus), Jarmo Sandelin (Swe), Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den), Oliver Fisher, William Fung wai kuen (Hkg), Shane Lowry
73 Sung Lee (Pkr), Somkiat Srisa-nga (Tha), Rafael Echenique (Arg), Maarten Lafeber (Ned), Daniel Nisbet (Aus), C Muniyappa (Ind), Oskar Henningsson (Swe), Angelo Que (Phi), Gavin Flint (Aus), Michael Hoey
74 Shing chi Tang (Hkg), Sang-moon Bae (Kor), Jovick Lee (Hkg)
75 Mikael Lundberg (Swe), Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg), Prom Meesawat (Tha), Man Lok Lee (Hkg), Guido Van Der Valk (Ned)
76 Antonio Lascuna (Phi), Kane Webber (Aus), Digvijay Singh (Ind)
77 Jbe Kruger (Rsa), Grant Gibson (Hkg), Jose Manuel Lara (Spa)
78 Mitchell Brown (Aus), Steven Lam (Hkg)
80 Woon Man Wong (Hkg)


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