THAILAND CHAMPIONSHIP

WESTWOOD ONE OFF PACE AS

CLARKE, WATSON STRUGGLE

ASIAN TOUR NEWS RELEASE 

Chonburi, Thailand: Thailand’s Thanyakon Khrongpha, Australia’s Marcus Fraser, Richard T Lee (Canada) and Chinese Taipei’s Lu Wei-chih stole the early limelight by returning with matching three-under-par 69s to share the first round lead at the Thailand Golf Championship today.

Lee Westwood of England, winner of the Thailand Golf Championship in 2011, trailed by one shot in tied fifth place alongside Scott Hend of Australia and Tirawat Kaewsiribandit of Thailand who had to battle through the blustery conditions at the Amata Spring Country Club.

Title-holder Sergio Garcia of Spain and Martin Kaymer of Germany fired identical 71s for tied eighth place alongside Order of Merit leader David Lipsky of the United States and Anirban Lahiri of India at the US $1 million Asian Tour event.

Former Open champion Darren Clarke (Northern Ireland), Ryder Cup player Victor Dubuisson (France) and American Bubba Watson, the US Masters champion, have fallen behind the leaders over the first 18 holes.

Clarke had a 74, Dubuisson a 75 and Watson a 76

The talented Thanyakon was denied his first Asian Tour win in Jakarta last week but he bounced back brilliantly with a morale-boosting 69 to eclipse several of the tournament’s heavyweights.

“I hit good drives and putted very well. I must continue to do that. I wasn’t worried about my score because the conditions were tough. I like the greens here. I know where the slopes are and I don’t find it tough to putt on these greens,” said Thanyakon.

The Thai put aside his disappointment of missing out on his first win on the region’s premier Tour last week where he made a double bogey on the last hole but remains confident of putting on another good show on home soil.

Having been side-lined by a wrist injury for a large part of the year, Fraser, who is playing on a sponsor’s invitation this week, repaid their faith with a noteworthy performance.

“I've been out injured all year. I started playing again in Hong Kong and I’m just trying to get back in the swing of things.

“I’m playing on a sponsors invite this week, so it was nice of them to do that. I enjoyed my time here last year. It's a great golf course and a great tournament,” said the Australian.

Lee meanwhile rushed straight to the Thailand Golf Championship from Japan and was especially delighted after ending his previous week on a sour note.

“I just finished Japan Qualifying School. I had one bad round in Japan and that put me out of the tournament.

Westwood began with a confident birdie and picked up two more at the seventh and ninth either side of his first bogey of the day, and he got to three under with a well-crafted 4 at the long 11th.
He gave the shot back at the next and blotted his card again at the 16th, but he rolled in his fifth birdie putt of the day on the final green to earn a share of fourth with Hend and local player Tirawat Kaewsiribandit, who holed his second shot for an eagle at the ninth - his final hole.
"It's much tougher this year. If you find the rough you almost certainly drop a shot." said Westwood. "But I played pretty solid overall.
"There was a bit of breeze as well, tricky flag positions, greens were quite firm - it was a tough test. It's important to hit the fairways."
Hend's compatriot Marcus Fraser was one of only four players to break 70 after he mixed two bogeys with five birdies, including a chip-in for a 3 
"That was a nice way to finish the round," said Fraser, who has been sidelined for the majority of the year with a wrist injury. "It was pretty tough out there. That rough is penal."
They were later joined at the top by Richard T Lee and Lu Wei-chih, who also handed in five-birdie 69s on a day where nobody in the 126-player field managed to keep a bogey off his  card.
Kaymer endured an erratic start with two birdies, one bogey and a double-bogey over his first five holes, but he managed to find some consistency and got himself to two under before closing with a bogey at the ninth.
"It was a tough day at the office," said the US Open champion. "The wind made it very difficult, and anything under par here is a good score.
"It took me a little while to get used to the greens, and I will also have to make adjustments to my tee shots as I haven't got my yardages quite right."

Defending champion Garcia, who has former tennis ace Juan Carlos Ferrero on his bag this week, also found the going tough as he offset four birdies with three dropped shots.
The Spaniard echoed the views of Westwood, Fraser and Kaymer as the entire field struggled to combat the strong winds and the punishing rough.
"With the windy conditions the course was much tougher than before," Garcia said. "I just tried to minimise mistakes."
Rising English star Tommy Fleetwood and current Asian Tour Order of Merit leader David Lipsky were among the other notable names at one under, but headline acts Bubba Watson and Victor Dubuisson both have their work cut out to make the weekend.
Dubuisson, who has been troubled by a back injury over the last month, was level par with five to play before he dropped three consecutive shots from the 14th and returned a scrappy 75.
Masters champion Watson closed out a front-nine 40 with three straight bogeys, although he hit back with birdies at 10 and 11 before giving them back at the 14th and 16th in his opening 76.

Watch day two of the Thailand Golf Championship live on Sky Sports 4, coverage resumes at 6am.

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FIRST-ROUND LEADERBOARD

Par 72. Yardage 7,488

69 Thanyakon KHRONGPHA (THA), Marcus FRASER (AUS), Richard T. LEE (CAN), LU Wei-chih (TPE).

70 Scott HEND (AUS), Lee WESTWOOD (ENG), Tirawat KAEWSIRIBANDIT (THA).

71 Anirban LAHIRI (IND), Martin KAYMER (GER), Sergio GARCIA (ESP), Kieran PRATT (AUS), Tommy FLEETWOOD (ENG), David LIPSKY (USA), WU Ashun (CHN), Jonathan MOORE (USA), Paul PETERSON (USA), Chris GAUNT (AUS), Nathan HOLMAN (AUS).

72 Chiragh KUMAR (IND), Prayad MARKSAENG (THA), Prom MEESAWAT (THA), Mithun PERERA (SRI), Martin ROMINGER (SUI), Masahiro KAWAMURA (JPN), LIN Wen-tang (TPE), Thongchai JAIDEE (THA), Hiroshi IWATA (JPN), Thaworn WIRATCHANT (THA), Javi COLOMO (ESP), Anthony KANG (USA), BAEK Seuk-hyun (SKOR), HU Mu (CHN).

73 LI Hao-tong (CHN), MO Joong-kyung (SKOR), Boonchu RUANGKIT (THA), WANG Jeung-hun (SKOR), Chinnarat PHADUNGSIL (THA), Simon GRIFFITHS (ENG), Simon Yates (SCO), HUNG Chien-yao (TPE), Berry HENSON (USA), Jazz JANEWATTANANOND (THA).

 

Selected scores

75 Darren CLARKE (NIR)
75 Victor Dubuisson (France)

76 Bubba WATSON (USA)

 

 Thailand’s Thanyakon Khrongpha continued his good form with a morale-boosting three-under-par 69 to take the morning lead at the on-going first round of the US$1 million Thailand Golf Championship today.
Thanyakon, who was denied his maiden victory in Jakarta last week, was a figure of consistency as he eclipsed Spain’s Sergio Garcia and Germany’s Martin Kaymer by trading four birdies against one bogey at the Amata Spring Country Club.
“I hit good drives and putted very well. I must continue to do that. I wasn’t worried about my score because the conditions were tough. I like the greens here. I know where the slopes are and I don’t find it tough to putt on these greens,” said Thanyakon.
The Thai put aside his disappointment of missing out on his first win on the region’s premier Tour last week after making double bogey on the last hole but remains confident of  another good show on home soil.
“I’m in a good form and I’ve been playing well for some time now. I’m happy with my result. I have to stick to my game plan because the rough is very long and the wind is very strong.
“Last week was the first time I played with a Major winner so if I can play with another star player this week it will be another good experience,” said Thanyakon.
Australia’s Scott Hend, who finished tied-sixth at the Thailand Golf Championship in 2012, survived the testing conditions for a 70 to put himself in a commanding position.
“It was a tough day because the conditions are very tough. I just grind it out for a good score and I’m in a good position.
“The rough is pretty brutal if you miss the fairways. The wind is obviously blowing quite hard. The greens are pretty firm and in good shape. If you get yourself out of position, you can’t really get any spin on the ball,” said the Australian, who has emerged victorious on six occasions on the Asian Tour.
Playing in his first Thailand Golf Championship, Germany’s Kaymer conceded it will be a tough test ahead in the coming days after he opened with a 71.
“To be honest when I played the first nine holes, I didn’t see a 22-under-par (referring to previous winning results). It was a tough day in the office.
“It took me a while to get used to the greens and as the tournament progresses, the greens will get a little bit more firmer which will make it tougher,” said the world number 13.
Garcia started his title defence with a 71 but was taken aback by the windy conditions.
“There was a lot of wind here and the course is firm. Every year we had rain just before the tournament and it kept the greens much softer. It was difficult to get on the greens.
At the start of the day my plan was to hit as many good shots as possible with minimal mistakes. It is quite simple really. Like I said, with this windy condition the course is playing a lot tougher,” said Garcia.