Good start for Thailand's Prom

Credit: Asian Tour

Good start for Thailand's Prom


Thailand’s Prom Meesawat opened his campaign with a four-under-par 68 to trail first-round clubhouse leaders Stephen Gallacher of Scotland and American Julian Suri by one shot at the Hero Indian Open on Thursday.

The 34-year-old Thai traded five birdies against one bogey to stay close behind the leading duo who posted matching 67s at the US$1.75 million event staged at the challenging DLF Golf and Country Club.

India’s Shubhankar Sharma, Australia’s Scott Hend, Thai duo Poom Saksansin and Prayad Marksaeng and Japan’s Masahiro Kawamura stayed two shots off the lead following their rounds of 69.

Starting on the tenth hole, Prom remained patient as he tackled the demanding course, rolling in four birdies before stumbling with his only blemish of the day on the eighth hole.

Hend, who was victorious in Malaysia last week, completed an amazing turnaround for his opening efforts. The big hitting Australian recovered brilliantly with three closing birdies after making a triple bogey on the ninth hole where he found the water hazard twice.

Play was abandoned at 6.40pm local time due to fading light. Three players will return at 7.40am to resume their first round with the second round scheduled to start as planned.

Players’ Quotes:

Stephen Gallacher (Sco) First round 67 (-5); 'It was a perfect morning. Cool to start with and then it heated up later on in the round, and not too much wind, so it was perfect today. I think you have to get it in play off the tee, there is just so much trouble. If you get the tee shot in place you can hit a couple of nice iron shots and take advantage of the par fours that are quite short, drive a couple, and knock it onto the par fives.

It is quite a strategic course. I don’t think you need to be the longest player on the Tour to play it, I think you’ve just got to plot your way around it. Coming back to a place where I’ve played well hopefully, I can draw on some inspiration from last year.'

Julian Suri (Usa) First Round 67 (-5): 'It was a good day. My caddie Dermot, always encourages me and he calls me the Greatest Showman sometimes after the movie, so I had to give him a little show there. With the heat there and all the conditions, the body felt great and the swing felt good too, and it’s obviously still a work in progress but to shoot a score like this, on a course like this, is a good sign going forward. This course is a great test. It’s very dramatic and provokes the imagination a little bit so I enjoy it.'

Prom Meesawat (Tha) First round 68 (-4): 'It is a very tough golf course, you have to keep your ball n the fairway and try and hit as many as greens as you can. I didn’t make a lot of mistakes, made a couple of bad tee shots but still kept it in play so I am very pleased with my round today.

I hit a really good drive on my 17th hole and was thinking I could get on the green in two shots. But it was a very tough pin position and I didn’t commit fully to the shot. I should have just laid up instead of going for it like how I did with my three-iron and ended up missing the green left.

I wasn’t too confident in my game coming into this week because I haven’t been hitting my driver very well. But I just tried to hit the fairway as much as I can and keep my ball in play. With my distance I could go for a lot of greens in two. I just need to be confident in my game and use my distance to my advantage.'

Shubhankar Sharma (Ind) First round 69 (-3); 'I think I played very well today didn’t make too many mistakes. I missed a couple of key putts on my front nine. Made a silly mistake on six and seven but apart from those holes I am pretty happy with how I finished.

(About his second shot on the par-five fourth hole) I hit it decent but not quite how I wanted to execute it. I ended up with a decent lie so fortunately I was lucky with where it ended up and hit it close enough to make an eagle.

The greens are a lot softer compared to last year. Three-under-par is a good score to start out the tournament especially on this golf course, you need to have a good start to keep the momentum going the next few days so I am pretty happy with how I did.'

Scott Hend (Aus) First round 69 (-3); 'After my 17th and 18th hole we thought we would be flying tomorrow night. I three-putted the 17th and hit two balls into the water hazard on hole 18 which was a bit of a nightmare. To come back after that was great, and I think so far this year this was the best round that I have played.

I just told myself to get over those holes and concentrate on what I was doing. It’s just one of those golf courses where if you hit a bad shot, you start getting defensive. And I just had to remind myself to not be defensive and keep playing how I have been playing. That’s the hardest part about it, you have to be strong mentally.

There wasn’t wind out there’s so I could still hit my three-wood and driver off the tees. I was quite fortunate with the conditions out there today.

I drove it on the green on hole nine and has a good two-putt for birdie, which were both really tough putts, so to have ended with three birdies after a bad front nine was a good way to give the round some sort of respectfulness.'

Masahiro Kawamura (Jpn) First round 69 (-3): 'My tee shots helped me a lot today. I missed some easy putts but overall pretty happy with my round. The last time I played here I missed the cut, so to come back this time and shoot under-par is great for me.

Hole number four I chipped in from 40 yards for eagle and that was the highlight of my round. I think my form is coming back and this time I think I am more mature with how I played. There is a lot of trouble out on this course but I was lucky to hit out of bounds once and only lose one ball in the water hazard. Hopefully I will keep hitting my driver good the next few days.'

Scores after round 1 of the Hero Indian Open 2019 being played at the par 72, 7438 Yards DLF GCC course (am - denotes amateur):

67 - Stephen Gallacher (SCO), Julian Suri (USA).

68 - Christiaan Bezuidenhout (RSA), Pablo Larrazabal (ESP), Robert Karlsson (SWE), Prom Meesawat (THA).

69 - Erik Van Rooyen (RSA), Edoardo Molinari (ITA), Ashley Chesters (ENG), Prayad Marksaeng (THA), Shubhankar Sharma (IND), Scott Hend (AUS), Masahiro Kawamura (JPN), Poom Saksansin (THA), Richie Ramsay (SCO).