Shaaban Hussin, the leading Malaysian after the first round of Maybank Malaysian Open – Golf News
Shaaban Hussin scored a two-under par 70 in the opening round of the Maybank Malaysian Open to tie for the 29th position at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club, on Thursday, April 12, 2012.
Hussin carded a total of five birdies against three bogeys to finish seven strokes behind the leader, Charl Schwartzel.
According to Hussin, he performed reasonably well, as he was expecting a similar score in the opening round. He believes that he can improve his score in the upcoming rounds to surge to the top of the leaderboard.
“I played the best I could. My target was to shoot a one or two under and I achieved that. This was only the first day and I just wanted to get a feel of the tournament,” he said.
Yet, he could have managed to score even lower if he had avoided the putting mistakes. He was able to hit the greens successively but failed to convert them into birdies.
He said that he needs to focus on his putting that will help him record better scores in the next rounds.
“I might have shot a lower score but my putting wasn’t as good as I expected it to be. I hope to do better in the next three rounds,” he said.
Moreover, his tee shot on the 11th hole went directly in the hole. Unfortunately, it bounced back on the green to eight feet from the pin.
Yet, he had a chance to turn it into a birdie but missed the chance by an inch.
“I was a bit shaky on the first few holes. I tried to maintain my rhythm. When I dropped a shot, I would try to make it up with a birdie. I felt more comfortable on the back nine,” he added.
Currently, he is the leading Malaysian player and the only one to score under par in the opening round.
Ben Leong and Danny Chia carded one-over par 73 to take the second best position among all the Malaysians participating in the event.
Matteo Manassero, in defence of his title, also carded a two-under par 70 to tie for the 29th place.
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