ALEX CEJKA LEADS THAILAND CHAMPIONSHIP WITH A 64

NEWS RELEASE FROM THE ASIAN TOUR

Chonburi, Thailand: Germany’s Alex Cejka fired a magnificent eight-under-par 64 to lead by one shot from world number four Justin Rose of England and local hope Arnond Vongvanij after the first round of the Thailand Golf Championship today.

The widely-travelled Cejka, who has 10 career wins but not since 2002, was in irrepressible form at the Amata Spring Country Club, firing eight birdies for an unblemished card in the US$1 million full-field Asian Tour tournament.

Reigning U.S. Open champion Rose marked his debut in the star-laden event with a 65 which was matched by Arnond, who fired nine birdies against two bogeys on a day of low scoring.

India’s Gaganjeet Bhullar carded a 66 for fourth place while Swede Daniel Chopra enjoyed five birdies in a row  en route to a 67. Title holder Charl Schwartzel of South Africa signed for a 68, as did Spanish Ryder Cup star Sergio Garcia, Singaporean veteran Mardan Mamat and India’s Sujjan Singh.

World No. 3 Henrik Stenson of Sweden, 2012 Masters Tournament champion Bubba Watson and Rickie Fowler of the United States opened their campaigns with matching 70s in the tournament featuring eight players from the world’s top-10 and offering a whopping 38 Official World Golf Ranking points to the winner.

The 43-year-old Cejka was delighted to upstage the stars on his first wedding anniversary with his wife, Alyssa. “Nice to shoot a good score on a good day,” said the German, who got married on the Thai holiday isle of Phuket.

“Last week I played a little bit better (finishing tied 12^th in Hong Kong), and so far the form continues. We've got three more days to go. I feel good. Nothing's easy. It's a great field and it's a challenging course where you can shoot five-under but you can also shoot six-over here if you don't drive it well or if you're a little bit unlucky.

“You've got to keep grinding. I cannot sit back and just play for pars. I've got to just play the same golf I've been playing, and hopefully I make a couple putts or I don't make stupid mistakes. It's a long way to go and again, there're a lot of great players in the field.”

Rose was in total control of his game as he kept the bogeys off the card, sinking seven birdies to set the pace in the morning before Cejka’s fireworks in the afternoon session.

“It was an early alarm call this morning at 4.30. Didn't enjoy that part but once I got out here to the golf course it was a perfect morning for golf, and the type of morning you wanted to capitalise on,” said Rose, who has enjoyed 11 other top-10s around the world to go with his Major triumph.

“I feel like I'm reading the greens well. The greens are rolling true. I feel like I've got a good eye, good read for the greens, so that helps. Obviously, I got off to a great start. Who knows what the winning score will be, but you've just got to play one shot at a time, one hole at a time

“My putting felt very sharp, especially for the first 12 or 13 holes. But also, you have to stay out of the rough. If you do hit the driver poorly, you are going to struggle,” he added.

Playing on his home course, the pint-sized Arnond outscored his playing partners Garcia and Fowler with a hot putter, needing only 23 putts. “Just from being out here quite a bit, I know what the green does,” said Arnond, who turns 25 on Sunday.

“The last few weeks I've been rolling the putter well but I haven’t pieced it all together. Some weeks I will hit it well and it will not go in and it's been frustrating. I'm happy to see it finally come together.”

Bhullar, who won the Indonesia Open for his fifth Asian Tour title two weeks ago, used a strong driving display where he hit all but one fairway en route to seven birdies against a lone bogey. It was his best round at Amata Spring after finishing 58^th and 31^st in the first two editions of the Thailand Golf Championship.

“This is the first time I'm enjoying a bit of the low 60s. There was a margin of improvement but three more days to work on, and I think it's a great opportunity for the Asian Tour players to compete against the big names,” said the 25-year-old, who is currently fourth on the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit. 

“It was a steady round. I hit about 15 greens in regulation and drove the ball really good.”

The dashing Bhullar has had a topsy turvy run of form of late. After finishing last at the ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf in Australia, he went on to win in Indonesia in the following week and then missed the halfway cut at the Hong Kong Open last week.

“I'm due for a good week,” he smiled. “(But) I'm glad that this is the last tournament of the season. This is my 13^th straight event. I'm just dying to board the aircraft which is to New Delhi back home.”

An in-form Schwartzel, who has  won once and enjoyed two other top-10s in his last three starts, was disappointed he dropped two shots with three-putt bogeys.

“Yeah, felt like I hit the ball pretty decent. Just the putting let me down. But those are not major problems. I've been putting well for quite a long time. If I can keep hitting the ball decent and give myself chances, go work on the putting a bit, it's a decent start.  It's in red numbers and it's a long way to go,” said the world number 17. 

FIRST-ROUND LEADERS

Amata Spring CC course

Par 72. Yardage: 7,488

64 Alex CEJKA (GER).

65 Justin ROSE (ENG), Arnond VONGVANIJ (THA).

66 Gaganjeet BHULLAR (IND).

67 Daniel CHOPRA (SWE).

68 Charl SCHWARTZEL (RSA), Sergio GARCIA (ESP), Mardan MAMAT (SIN), Sujjan SINGH (IND).

69 Marcus FRASER (AUS), Thammanoon SRIROJ (THA), Kiradech APHIBARNRAT (THA), Angelo QUE (PHI), Masahiro KAWAMURA (JPN).

70 Elias BERTHEUSSEN (NOR), Antonio LASCUNA (PHI), Rickie FOWLER (USA), Henrik STENSON (SWE), Bubba WATSON (USA), Alexander LEVY (FRA), Namchok TANTIPOKHAKUL (THA).

71 Pawin INGKHAPRADIT (THA), Hunter MAHAN (USA), Mars PUCAY (PHI), Thongchai JAIDEE (THA), Panuphol PITTAYARAT (THA), Wade ORMSBY (AUS), Marcus BOTH (AUS), C. MUNIYAPPA (IND), Prom MEESAWAT (THA), Jaakko MAKITALO (FIN), Lionel WEBER (FRA), Steve LEWTON (ENG), Anirban LAHIRI (IND), Jason KNUTZON (USA), Chawalit PLAPHOL (THA), Mithun PERERA (SRI), HUNG Chien-yao (TPE).

SELECTED SCORES
73 John Daly (US) (T53)
74 Rhys Enoch (Wales), Simon Yates (Scotland) (T70)
77 Peter Richardson (England) (T109)

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