Thursday, March 26, 2009


Tale of two Swedes: Record 64 by

Edfors as Parnevik struggles to 75

Sweden’s Johan Edfors powered his way to an eight-under-par 64 for a two-shot lead over Korean teenager Noh Seung-yul after the first round of the inaugural Black Mountain Masters at Hua Hin, Thailand today.
But fellow Swede Jesper Parnevik struggled to a 75 and is in danger of missing the halfway cut.
Edfors soared to the top of the leaderboard with an eagle and six birdies at the magnificent Black Mountain Golf Club to effectively set a new course record at the US$500,000 Asian Tour event.
The 17-year-old Noh, last season’s Rookie of the Year, fired a 66 to lead the chasing pack, followed closely by Filipino veteran Frankie Minoza, George Coetzee of South Africa and Australian trio Chris Gaunt, Neven Basic and Peter Cooke, all on 67s.
Thailand’s Chapchai Nirat, who enjoyed a record 32-under-par victory in India last week, bogeyed his last hole for a 69 while countryman Prayad Marksaeng, who needs a top-three finish to boost his hopes of qualifying for the US Masters, returned a 70.
Edfors, a three-time winner in Europe, overpowered the Black Mountain course and tamed four of the par five holes in five under. “I got the most out of my round today,” said Edfors. “The winds blew in a different direction and it was a bit confusing. But I played quite conservatively and gave myself decent chances and holed quite a few putts.”
The Swede, who bears a resemblance to Swiss tennis star Roger Federer, started strongly with two opening birdies and cruised to four under through 13 holes before producing a grand-stand finish with two birdies and a closing eagle where he hammered a three wood to 15 feet of the pin on the 18th hole.
“It was a nice way to finish. Usually when I’ve had a chance to win a tournament, I have taken that chance. I’m not won leading on the European Tour but I’ve done it on the Challenge Tour and I know the feeling and I like it,” said Edfors.
The talented Noh sank seven birdies against a lone bogey and credited a two-week break for his solid start. “I made a few putts and every shot I hit kind of worked out,” said Noh.
“I’m feeling good. I took a break recently as I was feeling a bit tired after playing in four straight events. I put in a bit of work at home which showed on the course today,” added the Korean, who is currently 10th on the Order of Merit with one top-10 and two top-20s.
After a stellar rookie season where he won once and posted three other runner-up finishes, Noh is being tipped for stardom and follow in the footsteps of Korea’s most famous golfing son, K.J. Choi.
“My game is getting better as I’m gaining more experience playing on the Asian Tour. My target is to try and win the Asian Tour Order of Merit over the next two or three years and become better than KJ Choi eventually,” said Noh.
If Noh represents the future of golf in Asia, veteran Minoza, who turns 50 in December, is amongst the first from the region to make a name for himself with multiple titles in Japan and Asia.
The amiable Filipino was delighted to be amongst the leaders as he said it was getting tougher to compete against the young guns. “It’s so difficult to keep up with the young boys as they are hitting it so long. The game has changed. When you are turning 50, your dream is to play on the Champions Tour, and not on this Tour any more as it’s harder to compete,” said Minoza, whose card included seven birdies against two dropped shots.
“I still work hard. When I’m home, I go to the gym every day. I do weights and go biking. That’s my hobby now, to try to become fitter. Otherwise I can’t keep up with the young boys, especially in this heat. If you have no stamina, you’ll die early!”
Asian Tour rookie Gaunt gave up professional golf for five years until the end of 2007 and he was delighted to be in the title mix. He called a penalty stroke on himself on ninth green when his ball moved during address.
“It was quite solid and the ninth was the only bogey I had. I called it on myself as the other guys didn’t see it and I had to do the right thing,” said Gaunt, who enjoyed tied sixth finishes in the Australian Open and Australian PGA Championship late last year. “I am striking the ball really well and had a chip in on four.”
Tournament drawcard Jesper Parnevik of Sweden struggled to a 75 to leave himself with an uphill battle to make the halfway cut on Friday.

FIRST-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 72
64: Johan Edfors (Swe)
66: Noh Seung-yul (Kor)
67: Chris Gaunt (Aus), Frankie Minoza (Phi), George Coetzee (Rsa), Peter Cooke (Aus), Neven Basic (Aus)
68: Namchoak Tantipokakul (Tha), Jason King (Aus), Chan Yih-shin (Tpe), Somkiat Srisanga (Tha), Angelo Que (Phi), Artemio Murakami (Phi), Daisuke Maruyama (Jpn), Keith Horne (Rsa)

Selected scores:
69: Chapchai Nirat (Tha)
70: Prayad Marksaeng (Tha), Chris Rodgers (Eng), Simon Griffiths (Eng), Ross Bain (Sco), Andrew Marshall (Eng).
74 John Parry (Eng).
75: Jesper Parnevik (Swe)
76 Chris Roake (Eng), Ally Mellor (Eng).
+Visit http://www.asiantour.com/ for live scoring this week.

Labels:

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home

Copyright © Colin Farquharson

If you can't find what you are looking for.... please check the Archive List or search this site with Google