Padraig Harrington shares lead in Malaysia after opening round
Irishman Padraig Harrington had a good start and an even better finish to his opening round score of 64 Thursday 14 October in Malaysia.
With one round in the books at the Iskandar Johor Open, the $1.5 million Asian Tour event, the 39-year-old Harrington shared the lead at 8-under with Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat and
Australia’s Marcus Both.
Harrington, ranked 22nd in the world, has been a busy golfer these past few weeks, finishing T17 last week at the Dunhill Links Championship at St. Andrews one week after he helped Europe
win back the Ryder Cup in dramatic fashion at Celtic Manor in Wales. But he showed no signs of fatigue today in Malaysia, beginning his round with three straight birdies and then posting an eagle-par-eagle finish at the Horizon Hills Golf and Country Club
to shoot a 64.
“It was nice to finish eagle, par, eagle. That’s a rare thing to do. It certainly bumped up my score,” said Harrington with a smile. “It’s a long way to go yet. You can always lose it
on a Thursday but in regards to winning it, there’s a lot of work to be done.”
The three-time major winner drove the green at the short par-four 16th, rolling in an 18-foot eagle putt, and then sunk a 25-footer for another eagle at the par-five finishing hole.
“I got the breaks and holed a few putts.” he said. “At the end of the day, if you’re going to shoot a 64, you’ve got to hole a few putts. I certainly holed two nice ones on 16 and 18 and
holed three 15 footers as well.”
Two golfers out of Korea sit two shots back of the leaders. Noh Seung-yul, currently leading the Asian Tour Order of Merit, and Lee Sung, both shot rounds of 66.
Signaporean M. Murugiah, Australian Scott Barr, Korea’s Hwang Inn-choon Sung, Taiwanese Lin Wen-Tang, as well as two Thai players Thaworn Wiratchant and Prayad Marksaeng, make up a large
group of players sitting three shots back of the lead.
The 21-year-old Kiradech, yet to win on the Asian Tour, seems to enjoy playing in Malaysia. In his last four events in the country, Kiradech has notched finishes of second, third, and
fifth.
“Malaysia is the same as my home. I’ve played well here for the past three or four times,” he said. “I’ve been working with my new coach Lerdwit Boonsombat where we’ve worked on my short
game and improved my swing. My game has improved a lot.”
Both, a two-time winner on the Asian Tour including a win at the Johnnie Walker Cambodian Open last November, shot a blemish-free round with eight birdies and no bogeys. But he reached
eight-under after 12 holes, playing even-par golf the rest of the way. He felt he could have done better.
“I’ve been playing better than my scores suggest,” he said.
Defending champion Retief Goosen shot a four-under 68 while Colin Montgomerie, European team captain at the Ryder Cup two weeks ago, shot a two-under 70.
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