South African Craig Kamps cruised to a one-stroke first round lead at the US$500,000 Volvo Masters of Asia after shooting a six-under-par 66 at Kota Permai Golf and Country Club on Thursday.
The two-time winner on the Davidoff Tour reproduced the fine form that saw him finish tied eighth in Hong Kong last week and posted an eagle, five birdies and one bogey. The inaugural Volvo Masters of Asia is the season-ending tournament in the region.
Kamps leads unheralded Digvijay Singh of India, who took advantage of near perfect conditions in the morning to shoot a 67, while nine players, including Order of Merit title hopeful Arjun Atwal and local hero Danny Chia, were two shots adrift in joint third place.
"I'm thrilled with that," said the 37-year-od Kamps. "I had a nice week in Hong Kong, so it is just a continuance of form. I have not practiced at all this week as I know I'm playing well."
Kamps, whose last victory was two years ago, birdied the third, fifth and seventh holes before dropping his lone bogey with a three-putt on the eighth. He then enjoyed a strong back nine with an eagle three on 12, after nailing a three wood to 15 feet before rolling in the putt, and birdies on 16 and 18.
Playing on a sponsor's invite, Singh is determined to make the Volvo Masters of Asia a family affair as Jyoti Randhawa, his brother-in-law, is the firm favourite to end the year as Asia's number one.
"When I saw that I was the first pairing out, I was pleased with that. Conditions were perfect and I putted really well... my longest was from 20 feet. I got off to a great start by getting to six under after 12 holes but made two silly mistakes to bogey 13 and 15. It'll be good to play well here especially when Jyoti is chasing the Merit title. He's playing really hot golf at the moment," said Singh.
In-form Randhawa carded a 69, two shots better than Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee, one of his two rivals for the Merit title. Both players produced some top-class golf before Thongchai, struggling with his driver all day, dropped three shots in two holes on the back nine to settle for a 71.
A lightning storm suspended play for 40 minutes and with dark clouds looming, Randhawa and Thongchai, playing in the last pairing, sprinted down the 18th fairway to ensure they finished their rounds. And both produced superb birdies at the par five last hole.
"It was Thongchai's idea to run down the 18th," said Randhawa, who has a lead of US$23,706 over the Thai in the merit race.
"He said we'd better run before the storm comes and we both made birdies."
Randhawa's birdie was spectacular. His second shot landed in a fairway bunker but he produced one of the shots of the day by spinning back his approach to six feet from the flag. Thongchai was equally impressive, rolling in an 18-foot birdie putt.
Thongchai said: "My driving was poor as I was pulling my shots. I was doing okay after 12 holes when I was two-under but made a mistake at the par three 14th when I used the wrong club off the tee. I didn't get to practice that hole yesterday as the Pro-Am was washed out and on the next hole, I hit a three wood and the ball bounced off the buggy path and into out of bounds.
"I didn't want to risk coming back tomorrow to finish the 18th, so we decided to run. It was nice to birdie that long one. Five shots back is okay," said Thongchai, who must finish no lower than third place this week to have a chance of retaining his merit title.
Chia provided the home cheers with a 68 that included birdies on three of the par fives. It was also his lowest round at his home course.
"It's my best score here and it's certainly nice to play well at home and get off to a good start. Normally, I get excited before I tee off but I was pretty relaxed this morning. I made some good putts but made mistakes as well but all in all, it was a good day," said Chia, Malaysia's first winner on the Davidoff Tour after his victory in the Taiwan Open in September.
Korean trio Kang Wook-soon, Anthony Kang and Ted Oh, European Tour winner Patrik Sjoland of Sweden, England's David Dixon, and Ecuador's Rafael Ponce are the other players tied at third place on 68.
Leading first round scores
66 - Craig Kamps (RSA)
67 - Digvijay Singh (IND)
68 - David Dixon (ENG), Patrik Sjöland (SWE), Rafael Ponce (ECU), Ted Oh
(KOR), Danny Chia (MAS), Anthony Kang (KOR), James Kingston (RSA), Kang
Wook-soon (KOR), Arjun Atwal (IND)
69 - Lee James (ENG), James Oh (KOR), Mo Joong-kyung (KOR), Chawalit Plaphol
(THA), Edward Loar (USA), Jim Johnson (USA), Clay Devers (USA), Danny Zarate
(PHI), Boonchu Ruangkit (THA), Kevin Na (KOR), Prayad Marksaeng (THA), Simon
Yates (SCO), Jyoti Randhawa (IND)
70 - Gustavo Rojas (ARG), Ross Bain (SCO), Robert Jacobson (USA), Gary
Rusnak (USA), Chung Joon (KOR), Ahmad Bateman (USA).
