Unho Park off to a flying start at the Iskandar Johor Open
Unho Park of Australia fired a seven-under par 65, in the opening round of the Asian Tour’s season-ending Iskandar Johor Open, to take the second position on the leaderboard, on Thursday, December 13, 2012.
The event is being staged at the Horizon Hills Golf and Country Club, featuring a strong line-up, gathered to contend for the US$2 million prize purse.
The tournament has reeled in some prominent names, including the likes of the Ryder Cup hero, Sergio Garcia, the Order of Merit leader, Thaworn Wiratchant, the two-time Asian Tour winner this season, Gaganjeet Bhullar, and the two-time major champion, John Daly.
Starting on the back nine of the course, Park birdied the first hole that he played, followed by four par putts. He then added another shot to his scorecard on the 15th hole, to reach the turn in two under.
His front-nine performance was even better, as he fired five birdies and four par putts, to finish two strokes behind the pace set by David Lipsky, who carded a nine-under par 63.
“I’ve been hitting the ball quite well in the last few weeks. I just haven’t been scoring. I started with a birdie and I always had this notion that if you start with a birdie, you are going to play bad. I did that so I told myself to keep a positive mind set and thankfully I was hitting the ball very well,” he said.
Park currently holds the 66th position in the Asian Tour Order of Merit, and appears to be moving on the right track, to secure his Asian Tour card for the upcoming season.
According to the Asian Tour policy, the top-60 players to finish the year will be allowed to retain or earn full-time playing status for the 2013 season.
The Australian now plans to remain consistent in the remaining three rounds, in a bid to make a strong move in the money list.
“I’m still trying to keep my card, that’s the focus,” he said. “If I’m up there on the last day then it will be fantastic but right now, it will be a bonus if I can be inside the top-60”.
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