Fearless Phachara in four-way tie for lead at the Sabah Masters

Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, November 21: 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 on Thursday.

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 the Sutera Harbour Golf and 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-fiend 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 Thailand’s Panuphol Pittayarat, Bangladeshi Siddikur Rahman and Khalin Joshi of India, were tied in 10^th place after carding matching 68s in the event that is supported by the Tourism Malaysia with an aim to boost tourism in Sabah.

Did you know?

• Phachara Khongwatmai found 10 fairways and missed only one greens in regulation in his commendable round of 66.
• Starting from the 10^th, Phachara birdied 11 but dropped a shot on 12. He bounced back with three birdies in-a-row from 15 to turn in 32. He would make another three straight birdies after the turn before three-putting for bogey on his last hole ninth.
• He claimed his third top-10 result this season when he came in tied-sixth at the Thailand Open two weeks ago.
• The 20-year-old Thai sits in 43rd place on the current Order of Merit with total earnings of US$79,757.
• Phachara came into prominence when he won the 2015 PGM CCM Rahman Putra Championship to become the youngest ADT winner at the age of 15.
• The Thai grabbed the last Asian Tour card on offer in 2015 when he won his second ADT title at the season-ending event to take the fifth spot on the ADT Order of Merit.
• Phachara finished a career-high third place on the Asian Tour Merit standings in 2017, thanks to four top-five finishes which include three runner-up results.
• David Gleeson, who hails from Queensland, is a three-time winner on the Asian Tour. His last victory came at the 2011 Hero Indian Open.
• The 41-year-old is playing in his fifth start on Tour this week. His best result in 2018 was a tied-sixth place finish at the Thailand Open. He won another title in the Philippines last year.
• Gleeson missed only two fairways and needed only 25 putts in his solid round of 66, which is the lowest 18-hole score he has recorded on the Asian Tour this season.
• Joshua Andrew Wirawan is playing on a sponsor’s invitation this week. He has played mainly on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) this year and this is only his second start on the Asian Tour this season.
• The 23-year-old Indonesian returned with a bogey-free round highlighted by five birdies, including three in his closing five holes.
• Aaron Wilkin is also playing on a sponsor’s invite this week. It is also his first start on the Asian Tour this season.
• The 26-year-old Australian dropped a shot on his opening hole 10 but recovered brilliantly with an eagle-three on 11 before adding four more birdies for a round of 66.