ODA SETS PACE WITH 11 BIRDIES IN THAILAND OPEN FIRST ROUND

BANGKOK - Japan's Koumei Oda fired 11 birdies for an eight-under-par 64 to grab a one-shot lead after the opening round of the U.S. $1 million Thailand Open at Thana City Golf and Sports Club.

The pride of OneAsia and the Japan Golf Tour OrganisationTour (JGTO) tamed the relatively short 6,336 metre (6,930-yard) Greg Norman-designed course on the eastern outskirts of the capital, with six players sharing second place and nearly 100 under par. 

Oda, a five-time winner on the Japan Tour -- although not since 2011 -- parred the first and then went on a six-hole birdie blitz before  bogeying the eighth and making the turn at 31. Five birdies on the way home were offset by a double bogey on the 15th for one of the best rounds of his career. 

"I have had 10 birdies before, but not 11," said Oda, 34, who started playing golf as a seven-year-old.

"The secret is I putted very well -- just 26 putts for the round."

Behind him, the chasing pack represented the young and the old, the experienced and the novices of both tours.

 Defending champion Chris Wood of England and Irishman Padraig Harrington were well-placed in joint 11th place, three shots off the lead. 

"I shot five under in the first round last year, so hopefully that is a good sign," said Wood, playing the course without the benefit of a practice round.

"The good thing is that everything is in front of you, so you can see the hole unfold from off the tee. That makes it a little bit easier."

Harrington was rueing dropped shots on a course he said was "there for the taking".

"Five under is a good start but it could have been better," said the three-time Major winner who double-bogeyed the 17th. "I'm a bit disappointed, but you can't win a tournament on Thursday.

"I had no expectations, so to be in this position is fantastic. I have never played in a big tournament like this, so my aim is to try to get some experience and try to get comfortable. Anything more than that is a great result." 

Best of the Thais was Wisut Artjanawat, based at the Thana City course since 2006, who was kicking himself after a costly double on his last hole saw him finish at six under.

"I made a really bad mistake. I pulled my drive left and then hit out into the fairway. That bit was ok, but then I missed the green with my third shot. It was only 90 yards but I hit it into a bunker. That was so bad. I hit it out of the bunker and made two putts.

At six under were Australian Scott Strange, winner of the Order of Merit in OneAsia's first season in 2009, and Thailand-based Scot Simon Yates.

 

  FIRST ROUND SCORES

  Par 72. Yardage 6,930

64 - Koumei ODA (JPN).

65 - HWANG Jung-gon (KOR), CHO Min-gyu (KOR), Lucas LEE (BRA), David McKENZIE (AUS), John Young KIM (USA), Matthew GRIFFIN (AUS).

66 - Scott STRANGE (AUS), Wisut ARTJANAWAT (THA), Simon YATES (SCO).

67 - Yoshinori FUJIMOTO (JPN), Rory HIE (INA), SU Dong (CHN), Hideto TANIHARA (JPN), Yasuharu IMANO (JPN), Chris WOOD (ENG), Azuma YANO (JPN), Padraig HARRINGTON (IRL), HU Mu (CHN), Juvic PAGUNSAN (PHI), LEE Kyoung-hoon (KOR).

68 - Yoshikazu HAKU (JPN), Terry PILKADARIS (AUS), Takashi KANEMOTO (JPN), PARK Sang-hyun (KOR), Sattaya SUPUPRAMAI (THA), Keiichiro FUKABORI (JPN), Yoshinobu TSUKADA (JPN), S K HO (KOR), Prayad MARKSAENG (THA), Jason NORRIS (AUS).

69 - Hidemasa HOSHINO (JPN), LEE Tae-hee (KOR), Andre STOLZ (AUS), Kenichi KUBOYA (JPN), Nick CULLEN (AUS), Stephen LEANEY (AUS), Toshinori MUTO (JPN), Mark BROWN (NZL), Peter WILSON (AUS), Akinori TANI (JPN), David OH (USA), David SMAIL (NZL), Brad KENNEDY (AUS), Yusaku MIYAZATO (JPN), Stephen DARTNALL (AUS), Varan ISRABHAKDI (THA), Rattanon WANNASRICHAN (THA).

70 - Yui UEDA (JPN), Somkiat SRISANGA (THA), PARK Jun-won (KOR), KIM Do-hoon 752 (KOR), Varut CHOMCHALAM (THA), Paul MCGINLEY (IRL), KIM Kyung-tae (KOR), Thaworn WIRATCHANT (THA), Daisuke MARUYAMA (JPN), JANG Dong-kyu (KOR), KIM Do-hoon 753 (KOR), SONG Young-han (KOR), PARK Il-hwan (KOR), Masamichi UEHIRA (JPN), Tawan PHONGPHUN (am, THA), PARK Eun-shin (KOR), Tetsuji HIRATSUKA (JPN), Tomohiro KONDO (JPN), Hiroshi IWATA (JPN), Ren HAN (CHN), KIM Dae-sub (KOR), JOO Heung-chol (KOR), Kazuhiro YAMASHITA (JPN), Thanyakon KHRONGPHA (THA), Wasin SRIPATTRANUSORN (THA), Thammanoon SRIROJ (THA), HONG Soon-sang (KOR), Poom SAKSANSIN (am, THA).

71 - Pavit TANGKAMOLPRASERT (THA), JUNG Ji-ho (KOR), LEE Han (USA), Kunihiro KAMII (JPN), Kim FELTON (AUS), Daniel POPOVIC (AUS), WU Ashun (CHN), Masahiro KAWAMURA (JPN), Jason KANG (USA), Norio SHINOZAKI (JPN), Donlaphatchai NIYOMCHON (THA), Pawin INGKHAPRADIT (THA), Koichiro KAWANO (JPN), Aaron TOWNSEND (AUS), Somprad RATTANASUWAN (am, THA), Jakraphan PREMSIRIGORN (THA), Michael HENDRY (NZL), LI Hao-tong (CHN), Kaname YOKOO (JPN), Kiyoshi MIYAZATO (JPN), Jay CHOI (USA), Scott LAYCOCK (AUS).

72 - David BRANSDON (AUS), Chanachok DEJPIRATANAMONGKOL (am, THA), LEE Seong-ho (KOR), Natipong SRITHONG (am, THA), Masatsugu MOROFUJI (JPN), Ryutaro NAGANO (JPN), KIM Sung-yoon (KOR), Udorn DUANGDECHA (THA), Yuta IKEDA (JPN), Shingo KATAYAMA (JPN), Nattawat SUVAJANAKORN (am, THA), LEE Sang-hee (KOR), LEE Jung-hwan (KOR), Michio MATSUMURA (JPN), Shigeru NONAKA (JPN).

73 - Gareth PADDISON (NZL), Brad SHILTON (NZL), Scott ARNOLD (AUS), CHOI Ho-sung (KOR), Kasidit LEPKURTE (am, THA), Akio SADAKATA (JPN), Garrett SAPP (USA), Somsak KHAOPRATHUM (THA), Matthew MILLAR (AUS), ZHANG Lian-wei (CHN), Katsumasa MIYAMOTO (JPN), Michael WRIGHT (AUS), RYU Hyun-woo (KOR), Sutijet KOORATANAPISAN (THA).

74 - Tadahiro TAKAYAMA (JPN), Taichi TESHIMA (JPN), CHOO Tze-huang (SIN), Steven CONRAN (AUS), Vuttipong PUANGKAEW (THA), Jamie ARNOLD (AUS), KIM Hyung-sung (KOR), Ryan HALLER (AUS), KIM Seung-hyuk (KOR), Anthony BROWN (AUS), Annop TANGKAMOLPRASERT (THA), Steven JONES (AUS).

75 - Atthaphon SRIBOONKAEW (THA), YUAN Hao (CHN), Yuji IGARASHI (JPN), Masahiro KURAMOTO (JPN), ZHANG Xin-jun (CHN), Eric MINA (USA).

76 - Pattaraphol KHANTHACHA (THA), Itthipat BURANATANYARAT (am, THA), MAENG Dong-seop (KOR).

77 - Sushi ISHIGAKI (JPN), Puk PRADITTAN (am, THA), Michael LONG (NZL), Piya SWANGARUNPORN (THA).

78 - PARK Jae-bum (KOR), HUANG Wen-yi (CHN), Danthai BOONMA (am, THA), Supakorn UTAIPAT (THA).

79 - ZHOU Guo-wu (CHN).

80 - Kurt BARNES (AUS).

81 - Pattalit THANOMSING (THA).