ENGLISHMAN SHARES LEAD WITH A 65 IN MALAYSIA

CHAN AND JACKSON SET SCORCHING 

PACE IN LANGKAWI, MALAYSIA

Chinese Taipei’s Chan Shih-chang and Englishman Grant Jackson produced matching eight-under-par 64s to set a scorching pace in the first round of the Asian Development Tour's PGM LADA Langkawi Championship on Monday.

Chan sank six birdie putts and one eagle at the Gunung Raya Golf Resort on the holiday isle while Jackson notched eight birdies in the US$80,000 tournamnt.

American Paul Harris carded a 66 to share third place with Thai brothers Sattaya Supupramai and Poosit Supupramai while Chinese prospect Zhi Shang carded a 67 for equal sixth position with Singapore’s Koh Deng Shan, Chinese Taipei’s Hsieh Tung-shu and Pasamet Pogamnerd of Thailand.

The omen was good for Jackson the moment he stepped into the locker room. “I was given the locker with the number 64 and I guess that was the key to my round,” said Jackson, , who won once on the ADT and finished fifth on the Order of Merit last season.

“I played really nicely and holed a few putts. I was working on my putting with a putting aide in my room for two hours last night and I guess it helped me today. I didn’t play too well in the first two events of the season, so this is a nice way to start the tournament.”

This season, the ADT will reward the top five players on the final Order of Merit at the end of the season with playing rights for the 2015 Asian Tour season.

This will be a significant boost for aspiring professionals on the ADT as this represents the highest number of Asian Tour cards up for grabs since the ADT was established in 2010. Only the top three players on the final ADT Order of Merit for each season obtained their Asian Tour cards previously.

The ADT, which was launched in 2010 with five tournaments before growing to eight in 2011, 13 in 2012 and a record 16 in the 2013 season, has established itself as a successful platform for upcoming players to gain entry on the region’s premier Tour.

For more information on the ADT, please visit www.asiandevelopmenttour.com.

 

Leading first round scores

par 72

64 CHAN Shih-Chang (TPE), Grant JACKSON (ENG)

66 Paul HARRIS (USA), Sattaya SUPUPRAMAI (THA), Poosit SUPUPRAMAI (THA)

67 ZHI Shang (CHN), Pasamet POGAMNERD (THA), KOH Deng Shan (SIN), HSIEH Tung-shu (TPE)

68 Shaaban HUSSIN (MAS), Masaru TAKAHASHI (JPN), Mitsuhiko HASHIZUME (JPN), Nils FLOREN (SWE), Rattanon WANNASRICHAN (THA), Farid RASHID (MAS), Blair WILSON (AUS), Rizal AMIN (MAS),  Pavit TANGKAMOLPRASERT (THA)

SELECTED SCORES

69 Niall Turner (Ireland)

70 Nick Pugh (England)

71 Matthew Tweddell (England), Shaun Malone (England), Jake Shepherd (England)

73 Matt Killen (England).