Javi Colomo leads the UBS Hong Kong Open after round one
Javi Colomo of Spain fired a sparkling six-under par 64 in the opening round of the UBS Hong Kong Open, to take a one-stroke lead over Miguel Angel Jiménez and Andrew Dodt, on Thursday, November 15, 2012.
The tournament is being played at the Hong Kong Golf Club, featuring some of the prominent names from different parts of the world.
Furthermore, the event is co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and the European Tour, offering a prize fund of US$2 million to the participants.
Starting on the 11th hole, the Spaniard parred each of the first 10 holes. Thereafter, he picked up pace and recorded birdies on six of the next eight holes that he played.
At the end of the day, not a single player managed to match his score on the leaderboard.
“I played really, really good today - from the tee, on the greens, everything,” he said. “I was very relaxed after the first nine holes, and I had opportunities for birdies and I had luck on the greens”.
He also explained how he made it to the tournament by qualifying through his ranking in the Asian Tour Order of Merit.
Last year, he lost his card on the Challenge Tour and also failed to make it to the European Tour through the qualifying school.
Therefore, he returned to the Asian Tour and enjoyed a decent run of form on the tour to surge to the 33rd place in the Order of Merit.
He now plans to finish the week on a high note by winning the tournament, which will guarantee him a European Tour card for the 2013 season.
“I had luck to get the card and the Q School on the Asian Tour and now I am 33 in the rankings. That's perfect, because next year I will play the co-sanctioned tournaments with The European Tour. It's a very good chance to improve, and why not to win a tournament
and go to The European Tour?”
The 2012 European Ryder Cup team captain Jose Maria Olazabal, in the meantime, tied for the fourth position, after carding six birdies and a double bogey for a four-under par 66.
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