Australian Andrew Dodt carded a superb opening nine-under-par 63 to grab the first round clubhouse lead by two shots in the weather-disrupted Bandar Malaysia Open at Kota Permai Golf & Country Club.
After two opening birdies, the 34-year-old Dodt added a birdie on the sixth and an eagle-three on seventh to turn in 31. He nailed four more birdies on his way home to take his place atop the leaderboard just before play was suspended at 5.55pm local time due to lightning threats.
Dodt, who endured two missed cuts in his first three starts this season, was thrilled to regain his fine form in Malaysia, where he had sensationally claimed his third Asian Tour victory in Sarawak last August following a three-month injury layoff.
“It felt quite simple. I hit a lot of fairways and a lot of greens and holed a lot of putts. This is, overall, what I’ve been trying to do everyday. Just felt comfortable and easy. It’s great to shoot nine-under,” said the Queenslander.
“Malaysia has been a happy hunting ground for me. Today’s round is just another step in the right direction for me. I was first reserve on site when we played the Malaysian Open here back in 2008 … so I just sat around the putting green the whole day and didn’t get to tee up,” he added.
2019 Asian Development Tour Order of Merit champion Naoki Sekito of Japan closed with three consecutive birdies to sit in second place at the US$1 million event, which is sanctioned by the Asian Tour and in partnership with the Japan Golf Tour.
Thai duo Phachara Khongwatmai and Pavit Tangkamolprasert returned with matching 66s, thanks to their respective front and back-nine 30s, to share third place with Chinese Taipei’s Chang Wei-lun and Bjorn Hellgren of Sweden.
Mohd Wafiyuddin (Photo by Masuti Ahmadi)
Mohammad Wafiyuddin emerged as the best-placed Malaysian after carding an excellent 68 to lie in joint 13th place at the award-winning Kota Permai course, which last hosted the storied event in 2008.
“If I could hit a few more greens in regulation, I think I could go a few shots lower. My putting was key today but I’m not really happy with my iron-play,” said the 28-year-old Wafiyuddin.
“Overall, I’m very pleased with the way I played and I’m happy to get off to a good start in my national Open. It’s a good boost in confidence for me because I haven’t played in tournaments for about three months already,” added the golfer from Kedah
A total of 51 players will resume their opening rounds at 7.40am on Friday with the second round slated to start at 7.50am.
The Bandar Malaysia Open is the flagship event for the Malaysian Golf Association and returns to the Asian Tour schedule this week after a four-year hiatus.
Leading Round 1 Scores (completed rounds only):
63 – Andrew Dodt (AUS).
65 – Naoki Sekito (JPN).
66 – Chang Wei-lun (TPE), Bjorn Hellgren (SWE), Pavit Tangkamolprasert (THA), Phachara Khongwatmai (THA).
67 – Kyungnam Kang (KOR), Richard T.Lee (CAN), Kosuke Hamamoto (THA), Mikiya Akutsu (JPN), Angelo Que (PHI).
68 – Rikuya Hoshino (JPN), Mohammad Wafiyuddin (MAS), S. Chikkarangappa (IND), Pannakorn Uthaipas (THA), Eunshin Park (KOR).
69 – Joohyung Kim (KOR), Gunn Charoenkul (THA), Nicholas Fung (MAS), Dongmin Kim (KOR), Charlie Wi (KOR), Jake Higginbottom (AUS), Suradit Yongcharoenchai (THA), Dodge Kemmer (USA).
70 – Shunya Takeyasu (JPN), Gaganjeet Bhullar (IND), Zach Bauchou (USA), Jbe Kruger (RSA), Miguel Carballo (ARG), Chan Shih-chang (TPE), Shahriffuddin Ariffin (MAS), Kodai Ichihara (JPN), Travis Smyth (AUS), Jaco Ahlers (RSA), Jeev Milkha Singh (IND), Danthai Boonma (THA), Fakhrul Akmal (MAS), Will Heffernan (AUS), Scott Vincent (ZIM), Hein Sithu (MYN), Ben Leong (MAS).
