Ricky Barnes racks up the birdies to lead in Malaysia
Ricky Barnes leads Ryan Moore by a stroke after a flawless opening round at the CIMB Asia Pacific Classic in Malaysia earlier today.
Barnes finished eight-under-par 63 to establish the lead, edging out Moore, who also shot a bogey-free round but could only manage seven birdies to Barnes' eight. The 29-year-old Barnes was in inspired form, hitting 17 of 18 greens in regulation.
Hard on the heels of the two Americans were England's Brian Davis, Sweden's Carl Pettersson, and Korea's Charlie Wi, all on six-under-par - and each man managing to negotiate the Mines Resort course without so much as a dropped shot.
Amongst those tied for sixth place were Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee and Scotland's Martin Laird on five-under, while bubbling under on four-under were Englishman Luke Donald along with South Africa's Ernie Els and Tim Clark, the latter eagling the 17th.
With this competition falling under the umbrella of the the PGA Tour Fall Series, this 40-player event marks the first time the tour has ventured to Asia (the tournament is also co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour).
The event won't count towards the official money list, but a decent prize fund - the winner bags $1,080,000, with a further $5m up for grabs - plus the opportunity to warm up before next week's WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai has attracted a decent field.
Of the other notable names, Rickie Fowler is three-under, with Australia's Adam Scott and South Africa's Retief Goosen two-under. But KJ Choi had a quiet opener, the Korean whose nickname is "Tank" hardly wheeling out the big guns, managing just two birdies and a bogey to come home one-under.
Another Korean fancied to do well, Seung-yul Noh, also underwhelmed, the 19-year-old shooting level par after four birdies and an equal number of bogeys.
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