Chapchai Nirat finds his form with the clubs to record 65, leads the Barclays Singapore Open
The rejuvenated Chapchai Nirat fired a six-under par 65 after the first round resumed on Friday, to take the lead at the Barclays Singapore Open.
The co-sanctioned event by the Asian Tour and the European Tour is being played at the Sentosa Golf Club, offering a prize purse of US$6 million.
On Thursday, Nirat was among the late starters in the afternoon and carded a three-under par score through five holes.
While standing on the sixth tee, he received a notice that the round was suspended due to risk of heavy thunderstorms.
As a result, he had to resume his first round campaign on Friday morning. He then added birdies on the 8th, 16th and the 18th hole to finish one-stroke better than Thomas Bjorn.
The Thai star was struggling with his short game, right from the beginning of the 2012 golf season. However, his stroke play and game on the greens did not give a single hint of his problems with the clubs.
Throughout the day, he remained flawless and did not concede a single bogey to stun his opponents in the field.
Talking to the Asian Tour’s official website, he revealed that he spent plenty of time on the practice greens to tweak his short game.
In addition to that, he also stated that he strengthened his mental game, prior to entering the tournament this week.
“I’ve been having problems with my putting for the whole of this year. I try to make sure that I’ve got enough practice before coming to play here. It seems to be working out today,” said Chapchai.
“I’ve been going to the monastery a lot to calm myself. I used to be very hot-tempered and I get frustrated easily especially at such a young age. My temper is better now but I still try to go back to the monastery once in a while,” he added.
Chapchai has only one top-10 finish recorded to his resume this season, which came in the Asian Tour’s season-opening event in Myanmar.
Therefore, he now has a golden chance to end his Asian Tour campaign on a high note, by maintaining his position on the leaderboard, till the end of the tournament.
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