CHIANGMAI CLASSIC REPORT, LEADING SCORES

SURPRISE FRONT RUNNERS IN THAILAND

ASIAN TOUR NEWS RELEASE

Chiangmai, Thailand:  Indonesia’s George Gandranata and Sattaya Supupramai of Thailand eclipsed the Major champions at the Chiangmai Golf Classic by grabbing the opening round lead on six-under-par 66 today.

Gandranata and Sattaya emerged as the surprise front-runners amongst a host of stars including Jason Dufner of the United States, who is three shots off the pace at the US $750,000 Asian Tour event.

Meanwhile Singapore’s Mardan Mamat sank a  30ft birdie on the last hole for a 67 to take solo second at the beautiful Alpine Golf Resort, Chiangmai.

The 2013 US PGA Championship winner Dufner had three birdies in his closing five holes to stay within striking distance of the leaders.

“My front nine was a little slow to start but I played better on the back. It was pretty good all day. I’m glad to finish under-par. The rough is pretty thick so it’s definitely premium if you can get on the fairways. You can be a little bit more aggressive when you’re on the fairways as well.

“There haven’t been too much adaptations for me playing in Asia these four weeks. It’s actually quite similar to what we see in South Florida. The playing conditions are pretty similar and the golf courses were also in great shape. It has been a good run for me,” said Dufner.

 

LEADING FIRST-ROUND SCORES

Par 72. Yardage: 7,481

66 Sattaya SUPUPRAMAI (THA), George GANDRANATA (INA).

67 Mardan MAMAT (SIN).

68 Rashid KHAN (IND), LU Wei-chih (TPE), Jyoti RANDHAWA (IND), Nicholas FUNG (MAS), Scott BARR (AUS), Panuphol PITTAYARAT (THA), Bryce EASTON (RSA).

69 LIN Wen-tang (TPE), Kiradech APHIBARNRAT (THA), Chikka S (IND), Mathiam KEYSER (RSA), Thanyakon KHRONGPHA (THA), Jason DUFNER (USA), Chiragh KUMAR (IND), MO Joong-kyung (SKOR).

70 - LIN Wen-hong (TPE), Paul PETERSON (USA), Daisuke KATAOKA (JPN), Somsak KAOPRATUM (THA), Rattanon WANNASRICHAN (THA), Rory HIE (INA), Sutijet KOORATANAPISAN (THA), WANG Jeung-hun (SKOR), Jarin TODD (USA), Mithun PERERA (SRI), Terry PILKADARIS (AUS), Miguel TABUENA (PHI), CHOO Tze Huang (SIN), Wolmer MURILLO (VEN), M DHARMA (IND).

71 - Hamza AMIN (PAK), Richard T. LEE (CAN), Kieran PRATT (AUS), Chapchai NIRAT (THA), Abhijit CHADHA (IND), Namchok TANTIPOKHAKUL (THA), HUNG Chien-yao (TPE), Shubhankar SHARMA (IND), Simon YATES (SCO), NOH Seung-yul (SKOR), Pijit PETCHKASEM (THA), Chawalit PLAPHOL (THA), Unho PARK (AUS), Kalem RICHARDSON (AUS).

72 - Nirun SAE-UENG (THA), YE Jian-feng (CHN), Panuwat MUENLEK (THA), Prom MEESAWAT (THA), Jake HIGGINBOTTOM (AUS), Michael TRAN (VNM), Akinori TANI (JPN), Adam GROOM (AUS), Chris RODGERS (ENG), Suppakorn UTHAIPAT (THA), Udorn DUANGDECHA (THA), Joonas GRANBERG (FIN), Jeev Milkha SINGH (IND), Scott HEND (AUS), Antonio LASCUNA (PHI), LEE Sung (SKOR), Phachara KHONGWATMAI (THA)