Rory McIlroy grabs lead in the first round of IMG sponsored Shanghai Masters in China
Rory McIlroy has now taken the lead in the first round of the Shanghai Masters after delivering another of his many thrilling performances for the year. The 22-year-old Northern Irishman has now soared up the leaderboard by a one shot lead over American
Hunter Mahan by a blistering eight-under, 64 at the scenic Lake Malaren's Jack Nicklaus-designed Masters course.
The invitational event, with colossal prize money is not sanctioned by any of the major tours in the world and the top ranking players including Lee Westwood and Mahan are playing strictly for monetary benefits at the back of their mind.
England's Paul Casey and Ian Poulter and Ireland's Padraig Harrington, also part of the 30-player strong field, finished for 67 each, trailing McIlroy by three shots.
The winner’s prize share of $2-million is probably the biggest prize money in the sport at the moment and the event is organized under the auspices of International Management Group (IMG). The event marks build-up for the upcoming WGC HSBC Championship which
is also stationed in the region other then the Suzhou Taihu Ladies Open co-sanctioned by Ladies European Tour (LET), Ladies Asian Golf Tour (LAGT) and China LPGA (CLPGA).
McIlroy was paired alongside his nemesis world number two Westwood and the duo were seen following each other on the sprawling Lake Malaren’s course. Earlier the event received criticism from the dominating Asian Tour in the region where the officials blasted
at the IMG for organizing an event without proper sanctioning of any of the international tours. The events organized on the Asian turf are normally sanctioned by the Asian Tour or the OneAsia Tour and at times also have the backing of the European Tour.
It also does not go without saying that IMG must have paid massive appearance fee to top-ranking players for their participation in the event, apart from the huge purse designated for the event.
McIlroy is currently the world number three on Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) and is poised to overtake world number one Luke Donald on the Race to Dubai points table. Donald will not be playing in the next consecutive events as he and his wife Diane
are expecting their second baby in coming weeks.
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