Himmat Rai and Thanyakon Khrongpha emerge club-house leaders at Philippine Open: Golf News
First round of the ICTSI Philippine Open teed off at the par-72, Wack Wack Golf and Country Club on May 12. This is a four-day championship which carries a lucrative prize-money of US$300,000. Quite a few players found it easy on the course as they produced
some excellent scores.
Once again, it was Himmat Rai from India who shared the club-house lead with Thanyakon Khrongpha of Thailand. Both these players carded a round of four-under par, 68 respectively. They emerge the club-house leaders as they finished their rounds.
Rai again looked brilliant. He continued his form from his previous tournament and carded a great score of 68. The 23-year-old from India was hitting the ball beautifully off the fairway and tees and produced some excellent approach shots during his round.
The 23-year-old Rai had a total of six birdies marked on his score card for his round. He lost two strokes on hole numbers 4 and the closing 18th. Rai was pleased with his round as he enjoyed the layout of the challenging course. He also read
the lines well on the greens and putted well during his round.
As for the Thai Khrongpha, he looked superb with his hitting. He amassed seven birdies during his round. He was a little bit disappointed as he had three bogeys on his score card. His bogeys came on hole numbers 2, 5 and 13. The Thai professional looked
in excellent form as he took advantage of his powerful hitting off the tee and fairway.
Khrongpha has been playing on similar conditions which went in his favour. He never looked under pressure on any occasion during his round as some of the elite players from Asia are also among the participants.
Two players share the third spot after they finished their first round. Wang Ter-chang of Chinese Taipei and Marvin Dumandan carded a similar round of three-under par, 69. They are just one stroke behind the clubhouse leaders.
Quite a few top ranked players like Siddikur of Bangladesh and Berry Henson are yet to complete their first rounds. They are still on the field and are only through to a couple of holes.
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