Lascuna has only 29 putts as he leads

 Myanmar Open with eight-under 64

ASIAN TOUR NEWS RELEASE

Yangon, February 4: Philippines’ Antonio Lascuna benefited from his solid putting as it rewarded him with a commanding eight-under-par 64 and the outright lead after the first round of the Leopalace21 Myanmar Open on Thursday.

The 45-year-old veteran needed just 29 putts to underline his supremacy over the rest of the strong field gathered at the US$750,000 event which is also the richest sporting event in Myanmar. 

Malaysia’s Danny Chia briefly took the morning lead when he carded a 65 before being overtaken by Lascuna to slip to second place at the Royal Mingalardon Golf and Country Club.

India’s S S P Chawrasia posted a 66 to take a share of third place with Japan’s Azuma Yano, Canada’s Richard T. Lee, South Africa’s Shaun Norris, Korea’s Jeunghun Wang and Australia’s Sam Brazel.

Lascuna was a figure of consistency especially on the greens where his sublime touch with the putter led him to the top after day one of the Leopalace21 Myanmar Open

He turned in 34 but was a man on fire in his homeward-nine where he quickly went to eight-under with four birdies and an eagle in five holes after the turn.

“My putting was so good today. Almost every putt I made went in, especially in my back-nine," said Lascuna.

“If I can continue this way, it’ll be a good week,” said the 45-year-old. 

Chia continued his resurgence on the region’s premier Tour when he went out with four birdies to turn in 32.

The Malaysian, who ended his 13 year winless streak on the Asian Tour with his win in Taipei last October, then cruised home with another three birdies for an inward 33.

LEADING FIRST-ROUND SCORES

Par 72. Yardage 7,218

64 - Antonio LASCUNA (PHI).

65 - Danny CHIA (MAS).

66 - Azuma YANO (JPN), Shaun NORRIS (RSA), S S P CHAWRASIA (IND), Richard T. LEE (CAN), Jeunghun WANG (SKOR), Sam BRAZEL (AUS).

67 - Prayad MARKSAENG (THA), Rashid KHAN (IND), Younghan SONG (SKOR), Miguel TABUENA (PHI).

68 - Dodge KEMMER (USA), Thanyakon KHRONGPHA (THA), Narutoshi YAMAOKA (JPN), Angelo QUE (PHI), Yusaku MIYAZATO (JPN), Yoshinori FUJIMOTO (JPN), Himmat RAI (IND), Nicholas FUNG (MAS), Naomi OHTA (JPN), Chapchai NIRAT (THA), Shiv KAPUR (IND), Yosuke ASAJI (JPN), Arjun ATWAL (IND), Ryuichi ODA (JPN), Seunghyuk KIM (SKOR).

69 - Hyunwoo RYU (SKOR), Jbe KRUGER (RSA), LU Wei-chih (TPE), Carlos PIGEM (ESP), Kalem RICHARDSON (AUS), Niall TURNER (IRL), Siddikur RAHMAN (BAN), Unho PARK (AUS), Winn AUNG (MYN), Thein Zaw MYINT (MYN), Seungsu HAN (USA), Daisuke KATAOKA (JPN), Sanghyun PARK (SKOR), Kodai ICHIHARA (JPN), Yuta IKEDA (JPN), K T  KIM (SKOR), Sanghee LEE (SKOR), Yosuke TSUKADA (JPN), Jordan SHERRATT (AUS), Daisuke MARUYAMA (JPN), Yikeun CHANG (SKOR), Naing Naing LIN (MYN).

SELECTED SCORES 
72 Simon Yates (Sco) (T87)
74 Steve Lewton (Eng) (T116)