Phachara in four-way tie for lead

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Young Thai talent Phachara Khongwatmai took advantage of his solid approach shots to sign for a five-under-par 66 and grab a share of the opening round lead at the US$300,000 Sabah Masters on Thursday.

The 20-year-old Thai ignited his title ambitions after firing seven birdies against two bogeys to sit atop the leaderboard with Indonesia’s Joshua Andrew Wirawan, as well as Aaron Wilkin and David Gleeson of Australia at the Sutera Harbour Golf and Country Club.

Sabahan Ben Leong returned with a 67 to trail the leading quartet by one alongside in-form Joohyung Kim and Sungho Lee of Korea, India’s Rashid Khan and Wang Wei-lun of Chinese Taipei in the tournament, which is the ninth full-fiend event on the 2019 Asian Tour schedule.

Despite closing with a bogey, Phachara took pride in his opening efforts as he was able to fire at the flags all day and miss only one green in regulation. Gleeson was delighted to rediscover some of his best form as he capped a solid outing to mark his lowest round yet this season.

A host of players, including Thailand’s Panuphol Pittayarat, Bangladeshi Siddikur Rahman and Khalin Joshi of India, were tied in 10th place after carding matching 68s in the event that is supported by the Tourism Malaysia with an aim to boost tourism in Sabah.

Players’ quotes:

Phachara Khongwatmai (Tha) – First round 66 (-5): I hit it really well off the tees today. I made some long putts as well for birdies. Most were from like 20 feet. Except for the three-putt bogey on the last hole ninth, everything else was good. I was able to make a lot of birdies today.

The aim was to hit fairway first and then aim for the green. I was able to do that today. Many people struggle on these greens so hitting the fairways and greens are the keys. But I think I can putt on these greens now. I feel comfortable with it.

It was hot out there but we didn’t get much wind, maybe only on the last five holes coming back.

Andrew Joshua Wirawan (Ina) – First round 66 (-5): I hit my driver really well today, wedges too. Hit my mid irons not so good but I was able to recover and get up and down. I had a good stretch coming back. It was nice to finish with three birdies in my last five holes. I was able to hit it close.

It’s my first time playing here. I landed in Kota Kinabalu yesterday and managed to squeeze in a practice round in the afternoon. It’s a nice course out there. You need to hit it good off the tees to score out there. I am happy with my start.

David Gleeson (Aus) – First round 66 (-5): I got off to a good start today. Sometimes the rain sort of smooths out the greens a little bit so it was quite good early on and then it just got normal towards the end. This course is actually set up quite well because it's generally sort of easy looking but it's not playing that way.

The greens are quite firm but I got a few birdies on some of the harder house today. So yeah, just keep playing and looking forward to you know, setting up a few things to play well, just a few tournaments before Christmas, and I'm going to try and play a lot of golf next year.

Nice to get that three birdies in a row. I just make some three to five-foot putts. You got to do your due diligence here because greens can be tricky. I played here back in 1999 when we had the first event here.

The course was very long then. It’s quite interesting to see how it has changed after so many years. I was back home for awhile before this week. Played a few events. Just been working on the game and see what I can do next year.

Ben Leong (Mas) – First round 67 (-4): I got off to a good start. I played pretty alright. I thought it was playing quite tough out there. I got my putter working on my front nine today, which is the back nine of the course. I didn’t hit the ball that great but my putting saved me a bit.

Dropped a shot on the first but still managed to drop some putts which kind of steadied the ship and I was able to build some momentum coming back. It was a patience game out there definitely.

Some holes I thought par would be a good score but I made birdie. Some holes I thought I need to make birdie but I made par. But overall, it’s a good start. The greens are a bit on the firm side today. The wind came up a bit mid round which makes it tougher.

Joohyung Kim (Kor) – First round 67 (-4): We didn't get much breeze, as I would have thought in the afternoon. So it was kind of easier but it was hot out there. India was like pretty chilly so coming here, although it has been three days already, I still find it a bit hot.

I putted pretty well. I made a good 20-footer for birdie on the first hole. I made a good 10-footer on the third. I did have a couple of mistakes today that I wish I didn’t make. Those won’t tough holes so I wouldn’t want to make bogeys there but I bounced back really well.

This course’s a bit short. We played narrow fairways last week. So coming here, it looks a bit wider. I'm driving the ball well and I'm putting well so if I can just keep this up for the next three days, it would be nice.

Scores after round 1 of the Sabah Masters 2019 being played at the par 71, 6932 Yards Sutera Harbour Golf and Country Club course (am - denotes amateur):

66 - Phachara Khongwatmai (THA), Joshua Andrew Wirawan (INA), David Gleeson (AUS), Aaron Wilkin (AUS).

67 - Sungho Lee (KOR), Ben Leong (MAS), Rashid Khan (IND), Wang Wei-lun (TPE), Joohyung Kim (KOR).

68 - Jakraphan Premsirigorn (THA), Amir Nazrin (MAS), Siddikur Rahman (BAN), Suttijet Kooratanapisan (THA), Aman Raj (IND), Jaewoong Eom (KOR), Udayan Mane (IND), Panuphol Pittayarat (THA), Khalin Joshi (IND), Josh Salah (USA), Jack Munro (AUS), Dongha Lee #562 (KOR).

69 - Kerry Sweeney (USA), Josh Younger (AUS), Peradol Panyathanasedh (THA), Kosuke Hamamoto (THA), Rick Kulacz (AUS), Soomin Lee (KOR), Poosit Supupramai (THA), Malcolm Kokocinski (SWE), Yanwei Liu (CHN), Jyoti Randhawa (IND).