Lofty Craig Smith looking down on
Asian Tour field with a 65

Johor Bahru, Malaysia. Welshman Craig Smith fired a sparkling seven-under-par 65 to lead the first round of the Iskandar Johor Open on Thursday but title holder Artemio Murakami of the Philippines was snapping at his heels.
Smith, who stands at a towering six feet eight inches tall, produced seven birdies at Royal Johor Country Club to enjoy a rare view from atop the leaderboard at the US$500,000 Asian Tour event.
Murakami enjoyed a strong start to his defence, mixing six birdies against a lone bogey for a 67 to trail by two and was matched by New Zealand’s Mahal Pearce and Australian duo Rick Kulacz, the recent Brunei Open champion, and Mitchell Brown.
Sweden’s Niclas Fasth, a former Ryder Cup player, launched his campaign with a bogey-free 68 for tied sixth place alongside Australian Kane Webber while South African star Retief Goosen carded a 72 in what is the second Iskandar Johor Open.
Smith, 28, is reputed to be the tallest player on any international Tour but his form hasn’t been as lofty as his soaring presence where he is presently languishing in 143rd place on the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit.
However, a bogey-free card sprinkled with seven birdies launched him into pole position and put a smile firmly on his face. “It was nice. The course is a challenging one. You have to do the simple things right and all I was trying to do was not to make mistakes and play sensibly. I was able to capitalise on a few good putts,” said the 28-year-old Smith.
It was a welcome return to form for the Welshman as he has missed the cut in eight of 11 tournaments this season, including his last four events. With the year coming to a close, Smith realises he needs to start piling up the winnings to avoid a return trip to Qualifying School.
Nearly all of Smith’s birdies were from inside eight feet, thanks to some good wedge play while his longest putt was from 20-feet at the par three 16th hole. “I’ve struggled a bit this year. I’ve not been able to put it together. I’ve had a few weekends off (missed cuts) recently and I’ve been trying to change things with some hard work. Hopefully it’s coming off, we’ll see what happens,” he said.
Murakami was delighted with his flying start, highlighted by 25-foot birdie putts on the fifth and eighth holes. But the Filipino knows it’s still a long road ahead. “It’s just the first round, three more days to go,” he said.
“I wanted to give myself a chance to defend the title. I’m quite happy with this score but quite surprised to see seven under leading as the course is not playing easy. You can easily drop shots here.”
With straight driving being a premium at the tree-lined Royal Johor course, Murakami unfortunately is playing the Iskandar Johor Open with a new driver in the bag after his old-faithful snapped two weeks ago.
“This round will help with the confidence. I’m swinging it quite solid but I’m quite confused with my new driver. I broke my three-year-old driver recently and I’m trying to get a hang of the new one. I’m not swinging it with full confidence yet,” said Murakami.
A two-week break at home has refreshed Kulacz’s zest for the game. The talented Aussie, the world junior champion in 2001, secured his maiden Asian Tour triumph at the Brunei Open in August but started to play poorly after putting too much pressure on himself to perform.
Starting from the 10th, he eagled the 11th from 20 feet after an exquisite six iron approach and added three more birdies to stay in the hunt. “I think I put too much pressure on myself as I tried to win again after Brunei. The last couple of months have been a blur but I took two weeks off and saw my coach and relaxed a little bit,” said Kulacz.
Fasth, who has remodelled his swing under Dennis Pugh this year, showed the kind of form that made him a world’s top-20 player at the end of last season with a four-birdie round to lie within striking reach of the leader.
“I gave myself a lot of chances and didn’t miss many greens. I wish I had dropped in a few more putts but it was an overall very steady round,” said the Swede, a six-time winner in Europe.
Local amateur Haziq Hamizan and Iain Steel were the best Malaysian performers with a 70. Last year’s runner-up Antonio Lascuna of the Philippines, Thailand’s Thaworn Wiratchant and Panuwat Muenlek and Australian duo Scott Barr and Richard Moir all carded 69s.
FIRST-ROUND LEADERBOARD
65 - Craig Smith (WAL)
67 - Rick Kulacz (AUS), Mahal Pearce (NZL), Artemio Murakami (PHI), Mitchell Brown (AUS)
68 - Niclas Fasth (SWE), Kane Webber (AUS)
69 - Panuwat Muenlek (THA), Scott Barr (AUS), Richard Moir (AUS), Thaworn Wiratchant (THA), Antonio Lascuna (PHI)
70 - Iain Steel (MAS), Firoz Ali (IND), Gaganjeet Bhullar (IND), Haziq Hamizan (MAS - am), Henry Epstein (AUS), M. Murugiah (SIN), Martin Rominger (SUI), Josh Lane (AUS)
71 - M. Sasidaran (MAS), Lim Eng Seng (MAS), Simon Dunn (SCO), Anthony Kang (USA), Rahil Gangjee (IND), Jerome Delariarte (PHI), Shaifubari Muda (MAS), Gavin Flint (AUS), David Freeman (HKG), Andrew Dodt (AUS), Chong Chee Ming (MAS), Gavin Kyle (MAS - am), Chang Hong-wei (TPE), Thongchai Jaidee (THA), Ben Leong (MAS), Mardan Mamat (SIN), Airil Rizman (MAS), Anis Hassan (MAS), Ronnachai Jamnong (THA), Namchoak Tantipokakul (THA)