IRISHMAN HIGGINS LEADS HONG KONG OPEN

                  DAVID HIGGINS IN ACTION TODAY. Picture by courtesy of Getty Images(c)

REPORT FROM EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

Irishman David Higgins racked up nine birdies in a superb six under par 64 to lead the first round of the Hong Kong Open. 

The 41 year old, who finished 115^th in The 2013 Race to Dubai, missing out on retaining his full playing rights by five spots, is one shot ahead of Italian Andrea Pavan at Hong Kong Golf Club, which this week is celebrating hosting the event for the 55^th consecutive year.

Higgins was delighted with his opening effort, which he signed off by birdieing the last, on a course known for being tight and tricky. 

“It's my type of track,” he said. “You have to be very precise with your iron shots, be a good putter, have a good short game and keep it on the fairway. So it suits me perfectly. It's the type of course I grew up playing, where it's almost linksy.  You have to be careful as the ball runs out and runs off the edges of greens. 

“The end of the year was disappointing for me.  I didn't keep my full playing rights but I still have some, so I'm going to have chances and every time I get a chance, I've got to make the most of it. 

“This is a great start.  I still have a long way to go, so we won't get ahead of ourselves, but I'm delighted with today.”

Pavan, the 2013 Challenge Tour Number One, continued his promising form from the last two weeks to notch six birdies and a bogey.

“I started off well and hit it close many times on my front nine, starting from the 11th. I was four under and playing pretty flawless golf, but I made a few mistakes towards the end. Overall though it’s a good round and I'm pleased. 

“Last year was a good year, so that brings you confidence. You want to always improve, and I know that I'm moving in the right direction.”

Seven players are another shot back at four under, and defending champion Miguel Angel Jiménez opened with a level par 70.

 

FIRST ROUND SCORES:

Par 70

64 D Higgins (Irl) 

65 A Pavan (Ita) 

66 M Mamat (Sin) , C Lam (Sin) , S Benson (Eng) , A Dodt (Aus) , P Meesawat  (Tha) , A Gee  (Eng) , S Singh (Ind) 

67 J Makitalo  (Fin) , W Ormsby (Aus) , J Kruger (RSA) , N Elvira  (Esp) , S Manley (Wal) 

68 C Doak (Sco) , S Henry  (Sco) , O Fisher  (Eng) , M Fraser (Aus) , A Forsyth (Sco) , E Kofstad (Nor) , S Chowrasia (Ind) , A Lahiri (Ind) , D Kataoka (Jpn) , A Cejka (Ger) , C Phadungsil  (Tha) , J Sjöholm (Swe) 

69 S Kapur (Ind) , D Brooks (Eng) , A Byeong-Hun (Kor) , J Lara (Esp) , B Ruangkit (Tha) , D Lipsky (USA) , R Derksen (Ned) , D Stewart (Sco) , L Wei-Chih (Tpe) , R Karlberg  (Swe) , A Que (Phi) , T Chuayprakong (Tha) , P Pittayarat (Tha) , J Heath  (Eng) , T Olesen (Den) , C Plaphol (Tha) , K Sihwan (SKor) 

70 B Paolini (USA) , M Perera (Sri) , J Hahn (USA) , M Joong-Kyung (Kor) , J Carlsson (Swe) , K Broberg (Swe) , R Finch  (Eng) , J Knutzon (USA) , L Bjerregaard  (Den) , L Sung (SKor) , R Cabrera-Bello (Esp) , G Charoenkul (Tha) , K Phelan (Irl) , Z Moe (Mya) , A Levy (Fra) , A Hartø  (Den) , G Stal  (Fra) , S Hend (Aus) , K Gi-Whan (Kor) , M Jiménez (Esp) , J Stewart (Hkg) , Z Lian-Wei (Chn) , A Sullivan (Eng) , M Korhonen (Fin) , S Lam (am) (Hkg) 

71 J Morrison  (Eng) , C Nirat (Tha) , J Pagunsan (Phi) , R Kakko  (Fin) , S Webster (Eng) , D Im (USA) , L Wen-Chong (Chn) , T Tang (Hkg) , U Park (Aus) , J Singh (Ind) , A Da Silva (Bra) , F Andersson Hed (Swe) , S Rahman (Ban) , S Hansen (Den) , G Havret  (Fra) , A Wall (Eng) , C Paisley  (Eng) , W Wong  (Hkg) , G Tian-Lang (Chn) 

72 L In-Woo (Kor) , J Randhawa (Ind) , H Rai (Ind) , J Lagergren (Swe) , A Lascuna (Phi) , F Zanotti (Par) , J Colomo  (Esp) , H Wen-Yi (Chn) , D Drysdale (Sco) , K Samooja (Fin) , E Molinari  (Ita) 

73 P Junhasavasdikul (Tha), J Campillo (Esp), T Chi-Huang (Tpe) , J Doherty  (Sco) , S Walker (Eng) , M Both (Aus) 

74 S Hak (Hkg) , P Archer (Eng) , J Fahrbring (Swe) , A McArthur  (Sco) , J Hansen  (Den) , K Sung-Hoon (Kor) , K Tannin (Tha) , B Åkesson (Swe) , A Vongvanij (Tha) , L Wen-Tang (Tpe) , G Bhullar (Ind) , L Yu Jui (Tpe) 

75 B Henson (USA) , P Hyun-Bin (Kor) , M Tabuena (Phi) , D Chopra (Swe) , D Gleeson (Aus) , J Parry (Eng) , H Wong (am) (Hkg) , M Wong (am) (Hkg) 

76 S Barr (Aus) , D Gaunt (Aus) , N Tantipokhakul (Tha) , D Williams (am) (Hkg) 

 77 P Lawrie (Irl) , C Muniyappa (Ind) , C Yih-Shin (Tpe) , S Mizuno (am) (Hkg) ,

 78 J Daly (USA) , E Salvador (Phi) ,

 79 J Dantorp (Swe) , K Pratt (Aus) ,

 82 B Fox (USA) ,

 85 M Ting (am) (Hkg) ,

REPORT FROM ASIAN TOUR

Hong Kong: Singapore’s Lam Chih Bing and Mardan Mamat spearheaded the Asian charge when they opened with matching four-under-par 66s to stay two shots back of first round leader David Higgins of Ireland at the US$1.3million Hong Kong Open on Thursday.

The Singapore duo were among seven players that also included India’s Sujjan Singh and Thailand’s Prom Meesawat bunched in tied-third place at the Hong Kong Golf Club.

In one of the most unlikely twists to the opening day of the Hong Kong Open, Lam who was the second reserve for the storied championship found himself stepping up to the tee after Korean-American Anthony Kang decided to give up his spot to become a caddie for Singapore-based Unho Park of Australia.

Finland’s Joonas Granberg was earlier disqualified as he missed his tee time due to his caddie showing up on the wrong tee.

Lam rode his luck and even made the best of his opportunity to be among the early pacesetters at the Hong Kong Open, which is celebrating its 55^th anniversary.

“You probably couldn't have scripted this any better. And to get paired together (with Kang), that was just hilarious.  When I got a call to go to the 11^th tee, I just ran out there. I had an extra club which I took out before I teed off.  I had a bunch of old golf balls, no yardage book, no caddie.  But it worked out pretty well in the end for me,” said Lam

Mardan meanwhile continued to put in another assured performance as he seeks his fourth win on the region’s premier Tour.

“I'm very pleased with my round today.  I played very solid from tee to green and I just need to avoid making silly mistakes. If I can do that, I believe I stand a good chance this week,” said Mardan.

The Hong Kong Open is co-sanctioned by The European Tour, the Asian Tour and the Hong Kong Golf Association and is the third event of The 2014 Race to Dubai, and one of the last on the 2013 Asian Tour schedule.