‘Sleepy’ Itthipat wakes up to snatch clubhouse lead at the Panasonic Open India

Gurgaon, India, November 14: Thailand’s Ittiphat Buranathanyarat took advantage of his short nap while waiting for play to begin by firing an opening round eight-under-par 64 to surge to the top of the leaderboard at the US$400,000 Panasonic Open India on Thursday.

The first round of the Panasonic Open India was delayed by slightly more than four hours due to weather and visibility conditions. Only players from the morning session managed to tee off with tournament organisers opting for a four-tee start to make up for the lost time.

Players from the afternoon session are scheduled to start their rounds at 11am (local time) on Friday morning at the Classic Golf and Country Club.

An energized Ittiphat shrugged off any weather concerns by opening with two consecutive birdies in his opening sixth and seventh holes. He then went on a five-hole birdie blitz starting from the par-four 13 before dropping his only shot of the day on the first hole.

The Thai responded quickly with an eagle-three on the third hole before two more birdies on holes six and seven soared him atop the leaderboard where he would eventually take a two-shot lead over Indonesia’s Danny Masrin.

Masrin, who is searching for his maiden Asian Tour victory this week, returned with a bogey-free 66 while in-form Shiv Kapur of India signed for a 67 for a share of third place with American Ben Geyer a further shot in tied-eighth place after he returned with a 68.

Did you know?

• Ittiphat Buranathanyarat of Thailand won the Boonchu Ruangkit Championship in January this year on the Asian development Tour (ADT).
• As a result of this win and two other ADT top-10’s, Ittiphat is currently ranked third on the ADT Order of Merit.
• Ittiphat has also won two other events on the ADT, The Players Championship in 2016 and the 2015 ICTSI Sherwood Hills Classic.
• Ittiphat’s best Asian Tour result this year has been a tied-sixth finish at the Sarawak Championship in August, which is also his highest-ever finish on the Asian Tour.
• Itthipat turned professional in 2014 and earned his 2019 Asian Tour card after finishing third at the Qualifying School last December.
• Danny Masrin topped the Order of Merit on his domestic circuit twice in 2016 and 2018.
• The Indonesian best result on the Asian Tour this season was a seventh-placed finish at the Yeangder TPC in September.
• After playing on the Korn Ferry Tour and Mackenzie Tour Canada the last few seasons, Ben Geyer secured his Asian Tour card for the 2019 season by finishing tied-13th and the Qualifying School last December.
• The American has made four cuts out of seven Asian Tour events this season, and his best result so far has been a tied-37th at the Yeangder TPC in September.
• His best career finish has been a tied-second at the 2015 The Great Waterway Classic on the Mackenzie Tour Canada, and he also has three other top-10s on that Tour.