James Kingston takes clubhouse lead at the BMW PGA Championship – Golf News
James Kingston fired a six-under par 66 on day one of the BMW PGA Championship, to take a one-stroke clubhouse lead, before the bad light forced the game to suspend, on Thursday, May 23, 2013.
The opening round started after a 99-minute delay, due to which, it was not possible for the tournament organisers to complete the round on the scheduled time. At 8:30 pm, the officials announced to suspend the
game, with five groups still on the course to complete their first-round campaigns.
Kingston, in the meantime, started early in the day and birdied the second hole, followed by a bogey on the very next hole that he played.
That was the only mistake the he made during his opening-round campaign. Courtesy to his back-to-back birdies on the sixth and the seventh hole, he reached the turn in two under.
His back-nine performance was even better, as he drained birdie putts on the 12th, 13th, 15th and the 17th hole, which allowed him to make a strong charge on the leaderboard.
Kingston is currently the only player in the field participating on sponsor’s exemption. Last year, he lost his European Tour card at the end of the season.
"I never felt like I played poorly enough to lose my card and that's what makes it even more frustrating," said Kingston, whose last of two European Tour victories came in the Mercedes Benz Championship in 2009.
"I felt like I played half decent throughout the whole season, but just never managed to put a score on the board. It does make it a little harder to accept. Getting an invite into this event, what a great feeling to be back here. I think I've made the most
of it today."
The world number two Rory McIlroy, in the meantime, marked a poor start to his campaign by posting a two-over par 74.
Through the first 12 holes that he played, he was three under for the round. Thereafter, he completely lost control over his game and bogeyed five of the last six holes, to finish the day sharing g the 82nd spot
on the leaderboard.
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