Afif Fathi, who only recently secured his Toyota Tour card at the qualifying school in September, shot a five-under 66 to lead the field after round one of the Yaris Cup at the Mines Resort Golf Club.
The 23-year-old notched seven birdies against two bogeys to take a one-stroke lead over Daeng Rahman. A stroke further adrift in joint third are Danny Millis and Tan Yih Heng. In the Ladies Championship amateur Ng Jing Xuen has a two-shot lead over Winnie Ng, after carding an impressive 66.
Afif was slightly surprised with his score as he had to play with a burning fever. “Yesterday evening I had a bad sore throat and the fever started last night,” he said. “I forced myself to play despite feeling feverish throughout my round.
“I’m happy with my game in general and hopefully after seeing the doctor and getting some medication I’ll be in better shape tomorrow.”
At two-under in joint fifth were a big bunch of players including Hilux champion Nasrullah Zulkifli, Fortuna Cup winner Ben Leong, Danny Chia, Syahiran Syakir, Kenneth De Silva and leading amateur Anson Yeo.
This is the second consecutive season that the Mines Resort Golf Club is hosting an event on the Toyota Tour which is organised by the Professional Golf Malaysia and delivered by MST Golf.
Amateur Ng Jing Xuen
Jing Xuen or “JX” as she is popularly known, started her round from the 10th and made birdies on the 11th, 13th, 14th and 15th holes to go four-under. With confidence on her side she went into turbo mode and birdied 1 and 2 and was flying at six-under until she bogeyed the par 3 seventh.
“I overhit my tee shot and couldn’t get up and down,” said Jing Xuen. “But I’m very happy with my game, striking the ball well with my irons and hopefully I can stay focused and continue with my form.”
Jing Xuen, who won the EFG China Ladies PGA Q event in Singapore last month, intends to turn professional in the first half of next year. “Many acquaintances are telling me I should turn pro now, but I feel I’m still not quite ready. I want to improve my techniques first and competing on the Toyota Tour will tell me where I stand at the moment.” She intends to try out in the China Ladies PGA qualifying school.
Winnie also started on the 10th and experienced a roller coaster first nine where she actually recorded just one par. Her scorecard showed three bogeys and five birdies for a two-under 33. She then clawed her way to four-under with birdies on the 4th and 6th holes before suffering an agonising double bogey on the par 3 seventh.
“I putted last on the previous green and then rushed my tee shot, sending the ball into the water,” said Winnie who then birdied the next hole, a par 5. “I feel I’m playing well and can only learn from today’s outing.” Winnie turned professional last month and will compete in Taiwan after this and then participate in the China Ladies PGA qualifying school before returning to Taiwan for her final event of the year.
Geraldine Wong lies third on even par followed by Zulaikah Nasser and Amalia Shahzan both on one-over 72.
Leading 1st Rd scores
66 Afif Fathi
67 Daeng Rahman
68 Danny Millis, Tan Yih Heng
69 Azry Asraf, Nasrullah Zulkifli, Nor Heikal Hadi, Danny Chia, Anson Yeo (am), Ben Leong, Syahiran Syakir, Kenneth De Silva, Yusoff Affandy
70 Danial Faidz, Amir Nazrin, Shahriffuddin Ariffin, Zia Izzuddeen, U-Minn Woon, Malcolm Ting, R Nachimuthu, Syakir Adli
Ladies
66 Ng Jing Xuen (am)
68 Winnie Ng
71 Geraldine Wong
72 Zulaikah Nasser, Amalia Shahzan
73 Liyana Durisic, Alya Afza Hazari (am), Michelle Koh, Wang Xin Yao (am)
