Jeev Milkha Singh leading the Asians after the first round of the Maybank Malaysian Open – Golf News
The Indian golf star, Jeev Milkha Singh, carded a seven-under par 65 in the opening round of the Maybank Malaysian Open, to take the second spot on the leaderboard on Thursday, April 12, 2012.
Milkha went off to a great start as he managed to score a fascinating 20-foot eagle putt on the first (10th) hole he played at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club.
However, a bogey on the very next hole took him back to one-under for the round. Thereafter, he never appeared to be struggling.
He made pars and birdie shots and carded six birdies to finish one stroke behind the leader, Charl Schwartzel.
“I’m really happy. I had a great start to the round (from 10th tee). Hit a three-wood to 20 feet and holed that for an eagle,” he said. “That gave me a good push and a jump-start to the tournament. I only had one bogey on the 11th and came back with a birdie
on 12”.
He also talked about the birdie chances he had throughout the day. According to him, he would have gone further low in the round if he had not missed a number of birdie chances that he received after hitting the greens.
He said that a little improvement in his putting in the upcoming round may help him get to the top of the leaderboard.
“My confidence is high. I’ve been playing well for a while now. It all comes down to putting and I holed a lot of putts today (yesterday),” he said.
“The beauty is that I’m feeling fit. That’s the most important thing because I can practise enough. I feel healthy and I expect things to get better as the year goes by”.
Meanwhile, Charl Schwartzel surged to the top of the leaderboard after carding nine birdies and a bogey on the opening day. He flew directly from Augusta National to Malaysia on Tuesday, which was a tiring journey of 30 hours.
Yet, he managed to perform amazingly on the course and cheered his fans, who were waiting for such a performance for a long time.
Matteo Manassero, the defending champion, failed to impress his fans and finished seven strokes behind the lead. He carded a total of five birdies and three bogeys to settle at two-under par 70.
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