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.
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 Sutera Harbour Golf & 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-field 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 Malaysia’s Amir Nazrin, 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 Tourism Malaysia.
