Mardan Mamat shares the ninth position at the UBS Hong Kong Open on day one
Mardan Mamat of Singapore carded a three-under par 67, in the opening round of the UBS Hong Kong Open, to take the share of the ninth position, on Thursday, November 15, 2012.
The US$2 million tournament is co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and the European Tour, and is being played at the Hong Kong Golf Club.
In 1997, Mamat became the first Singaporean player to represent his country in a major golf tournament, as he participated in The Open Championship.
Furthermore, he was the first Singaporean player to taste success on the European Tour, by winning the OSIM Singapore Masters in 2006. The tournament was co-sanctioned by the European Tour and the Asian Tour.
In total, he has won 10 professional events in his career, the last one of which came in February this year. He recorded a stunning five-stroke victory at the 2012 ICTSI Philippine Open.
This week, he plans to add another title to his resume by maintaining consistency throughout the four rounds. On day one, he added a total of five birdies to his scorecard, while conceding only two bogeys.
Talking to the Asian Tour’s official website, he stated that he was pleased with his performance. According to him, his ability to play under pressure can play a key role for him to contend strongly in the remaining three rounds.
“I've been hitting the ball very good, and today I holed a couple of putts,” he said. “I've been playing so many years and the experience and ability to handle the pressure when I need to will be the key for me this week”.
He also expressed his wish of ending the 2012 Asian Tour campaign with a top-10 finish in the Order of Merit.
“I hope that I can break into the top-10 on the Order of Merit. That's my target for the last four events. If I can do that, I'll be very happy with that,” he said.
He added, “It's so much nicer here. The weather’s not as hot as in Singapore last week. I think it's quite windy today, so the course is not playing easy”.
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