More of the ‘Remarkables’ from veteran Hend at New Zealand Open presented by Sky Sport
Scott Hend, the most successful Australian golfer in the history of the Asian Tour with 10 victories, once again showed that being in his 50s is no barrier, after he shot a seven-under-par 64 to take a share of the first-round lead with countryman Matthew Griffin, who won this event in 2016.
They both played the Remarkables Course here at Millbrook Resort, just outside Queenstown, on a stunningly beautiful day, perfect for low scoring – in an event that features a Pro-Am format with the Coronet course also being used.
Thailand’s Gunn Charoenkul, who played so well here last year finishing sixth, made birdie on three of his last four holes to return a 65 and is tied third with Koreans Junghyun Um and Soonsang Hong, and Australians Kevin Yuan, Sam Brazel, Jim Mackenzie and Ben Wharton plus New Zealand’s Ben Campbell. Gunn, Um, Yuan and Campbell’s scores were on the Coronet layout.
Hend tied for 31st in the International Series Oman last week and the long trip to get here meant he was only able to practice on one of the courses.
Matthew Griffin. Picture by Chris Symes/www.photosport.nz
Said the 50-year-old, who last tasted victory on the Asian Tour came in 2019: “Yeah, it’s a slow start out there on the front nine, which has got some pretty easy holes that I didn’t take advantage of. But then I got onto a bit of a roll and got used to the greens a little bit.
“I was too tired to have a practice run on Tuesday on that course, and I played the other course yesterday. So, it took a little while to sort of get a feel of the golf course.”
The Australian made a remarkable recovery from prostate cancer two years ago and last year won on the European Seniors Tour, while on the Asian Tour he remains a threat, finishing equal second in the Mandiri Indonesian Open last August.
“Just [playing] to have fun and try and be there on Sunday with a chance to win. I mean, last year I had an opportunity and just didn’t hole any putts on Sunday,” he added.
“So, you know, in this format you’ve got to embrace it and have fun. I’ve got some good amateurs that we’re playing with and it’s a pleasure to meet new people like that and actually have a bit of a chat.”
Hend went bogey-free, making two birdies on the front nine, before five birdies on the second half saw him shoot up the leaderboard. He made four in a row from the ninth.
Carlos Pigem, a graduate from this year’s Asian Tour Qualifying School, continues to make the most of his return to the Asian Tour, and is in a group of players in joint 11th following a 66, on Remarkables.
Gunn Charoenkul. Picture by Paul Lakatos /Asian Tour.
Pigem was a regular on the Asian Tour between 2013 and 2018 – winning the Yeangder Tournament Players Championship in 2016 – and is back in the region thanks to securing the fifth card as this year’s Qualifying School in Thailand in January.
Like Hend he had to make the journey from Oman, where he was also 31st.
“I am really happy. Today I wasn’t feeling very good, after the jetlag, I had a little bit of coughing,” said the 33-year-old.
“I had a lot of patience today, made birdies where I had to make birdies, made some great up and downs where I had to, especially on the last hole, where I made a great up and down for par.”
It is his first time playing in this event and he joked: “This is probably the furthest point from Spain.
“I have to say it is an unbelievable place, the mountains, the lakes, environment, it is unbelievable, the landscape.”
He competed on Asian Tour from 2013 to 2018 and also played the DP World Tour in 2017 and 2018. In 2018 he lost his playing privileges on both circuits, and then opted to play the Challenge Tour.
He won his card back at the DP World Tour school in 2019, played there in 2020 and 2021 and then the Challenge Tour in 2022.
“I didn’t play well for the last three years. In golf you think you have the answer one day but the day after you can shoot the ball anywhere. So, this is why we love call no? You have to be consistent as long as possible. I was having a tough time. But from last September things are going better,” he explained.
“I really love Asia, when I was playing Asian Tour Q School I felt so great being back there, and I thought let’s see if I can finish the work and get my card, which I did. I am enjoying it a lot, this is my third event, so let’s keep pushing.
“The Asian Tour is a Tour I always love. It has been growing a lot since I played here before. The purses are going up, but also, I like playing in the heat, the people here are very friendly, it’s like a family for me, and I feel very comfortable.”
Carlos Pigem. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.
Korea’ Wooyoung Cho and Jang Yubin, both members of the Korean team that won the gold medal at the Asian Games last year – when they played alongside PGA Tour stars Im Sung-jae and Kim Si-woo – both carded 67s on the Remarkables, along with their compatriot Jaewoong Eom, on the same course, who tied for second here last year. They are in a group sharing 18th.
Defending champion Brendan Jones from Australia shot a 70 on Coronet.
The tournament is the third event of the season on the Asian Tour and features 59 Asian Tour members. It is being jointly-sanctioned with the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia in partnership with the Japan Golf Tour.
Spain’s Carlos Pigem is making the most of his return to the Asian Tour.
The Spaniard, a graduate from this year’s Asian Tour Qualifying School, made a strong start to the New Zealand Open presented by Sky Sport today, carding a first-round five-under-par 66 on the Remarkables Course.
The clubhouse lead after the morning session is being held by Australian Matt Griffin, who shot a 64 on the same course – in the third event of the season on the Asian Tour, which is jointly-sanctioned with the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia in partnership with the Japan Golf Tour.
Pigem was a regular on the Asian Tour between 2013 and 2018 – winning the Yeangder Tournament Players Championship in 2016 – and is back in the region thanks to securing the fifth card as this year’s Qualifying School in Thailand in January.
His bogey-free round today, consisting of two birdies on the front and three on the back, was made even more impressive by the fact that he played in the International Series Oman last week and had a long journey to arrive here.
Matt Griffin. Picture by Chris Symes/www.photosport.nz
“I am really happy. Today I wasn’t feeling very good, after the jetlag, I had a little bit of coughing,” said the 33-year-old.
“I had a lot of patience today, made birdies where I had to make birdies, made some great up and downs where I had to, especially on the last hole, where I made a great up and down for par.”
It is his first time playing in this event and he joked: “This is probably the furthest point from Spain.
“I have to say it is an unbelievable place, the mountains, the lakes, environment, it is unbelievable, the landscape.”
He competed on Asian Tour from 2013 to 2018 and also played the DP World Tour in 2017 and 2018. In 2018 he lost his playing privileges on both circuits, and then opted to play the Challenge Tour.
He won his card back at the DP World Tour school in 2019, played there in 2020 and 2021 and then the Challenge Tour in 2022.
“I didn’t play well for the last three years. In golf you think you have the answer one day but the day after you can shoot the ball anywhere. So, this is why we love call no? You have to be consistent as long as possible. I was having a tough time. But from last September things are going better,” he explained.
“I really love Asia, when I was playing Asian Tour Q School I felt so great being back there, and I thought let’s see if I can finish the work and get my card, which I did. I am enjoying it a lot, this is my third event, so let’s keep pushing.
“The Asian Tour is a Tour I always love. It has been growing a lot since I played here before. The purses are going up, but also, I like playing in the heat, the people here are very friendly, it’s like a family for me, and I feel very comfortable.”
Two courses are being used this week – the Remarkables and Coronet Courses – in an event that also has a Pro-Am component.
Defending champion Brendan Jones doesn’t expect to win this week’s 103rd New Zealand Open presented by Sky Sport, which starts today.
No matter his affinity for the Millbrook Resort just outside Queenstown, Jones knows that the odds are stacked against him. He knows that fairytales rarely come with sequels.
Yet despite the prospect of leaving New Zealand on Monday without the Brodie Breeze Trophy that now bears his name as the 2023 Champion, Jones is ready to revel in everything that comes with being the defending champion.
And while having his face plastered across posters is unfamiliar for a veteran with 15 victories on the Japan Golf Tour to his name, Jones is savouring an experience he knows doesn’t come along too often.
“I am confident of putting in a good showing but to say I am going to defend and be a two-time New Zealand Champion is a bit far-fetched,” said Jones, who was runner-up to Kazuma Kobori at the Webex Players Series Sydney earlier this month.
Brendan Jones. Picture by Chris Symes www.photosport.nz
“The only thing that I’ve been thinking about is that I will be flying back to Australia on Monday not as the current New Zealand Open champ and that is making me a little sad.
“I’ve still got four days of golf in front of me and if I do what I did last year, then who knows? It was a bit of a fairytale for me last year.
“I have won a lot of tournaments around the place but not too many when I understand what’s going on because in Japan I don’t speak Japanese and they don’t really want to talk to me the next year.
“This is special. This is my favourite golf tournament to play anywhere in the world and I’m coming back to my favourite place in the world. It’s just exciting to be back.”
Another player excited to be back in Queenstown is local favourite Steven Alker. A phenomenon since joining the PGA TOUR Champions in late 2021, Alker is also a realist when it comes to opportunities to win his national open.
Alker shot 65 in Round 1 at Millbrook a year ago before finishing tied for 30th. Now 52 years of age, Alker wants to parlay his eight wins on the Champions Tour in the past three years into a treasured victory on home soil.
“I am still competitive. I am still playing professional golf,” said Alker, who will have wife Tanya on the bag this week for the first time since the 2014 US Open. “There is probably not too many left in me, so just to come back to play and compete in New Zealand when we are in New Zealand… It is a special place to come back to.”
At the other end of the career spectrum, much attention this week will be centred on rookie Kazuma Kobori. A three-time winner this season on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia, Kobori is all but guaranteed a spot on the DP World Tour for the 2025 season, Alker a keen observer from the other side of the world.
“I have been reading the press and how he has been playing,” said Alker. “It’s very impressive if you compare it with what Tiger Woods did when he was young and started his career, although on a different level.
“To win events at his age as a professional is impressive. I wouldn’t have ever dreamt of that when turning pro but the young guys coming out now seem to be ready to play and hungry to win. “He has obviously got talent which is great and being from New Zealand is even better.”
Two courses are used during the week – the Remarkables and Coronet Courses – in an event that also has a Pro-Am component.
Photo: Brendan Jones at Millbrook Resort ahead of the 103rd New Zealand Open presented by Sky Sport. (Credit: Photosport.nz)
Kevin Yuan is hoping to turn his solid form at the beginning of the new season and cash in on an ‘exciting opportunity’ that is the 103rd New Zealand Open presented by Sky Sport.
The 26-year-old was joint leader in the Asian Tour’s season-opening IRS Prima Malaysian Open at the halfway stage with rounds of 65 and 64, and then briefly held the lead again on the second day at nine-under in the International Series Oman at Al Mouj Golf Club, Muscat.
Yuan went on to finish solo fifth at The Mines Resort and Golf Club in Kuala Lumpur and was tied 14th in Muscat, and the feeling is more is to come from the young man from Sydney.
The emerging talent was 28th in the Asian Tour Order of Merit last year despite faltering towards the end of the season, when he missed eight cuts in his last 10 starts. But the good work done in the beginning of the year, which included a tied second place at the International Series Vietnam and a fifth place at International Series Thailand, saw him post a decent finish on the Merit list.
Kevin Yuan. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.
That early season run included a tied 44th place in his debut New Zealand Open presented by Sky Sport appearance and an excited Yuan wants to do much better in his second outing at Millbrook Resort – where the beautiful Coronet and Remarkables courses are being played, in event that has a Pro-Am component.
“I played here last year. It was my first time, and I was just blown away by how much fun that golf tournament was,” said Yuan, who is searching for his first win as a professional.
“Obviously, Queenstown is such a sick town. It’s beautiful. It’s Just awesome to be there. So many fun things to do. And the golf course is really cool. They hold the tournament in great conditions. And it’s one of those…a really fun tournament to play as an Aussie.”
Apart from being part of history as one of the oldest professional golf tournaments in the world, Yuan is well aware that the riches of winning go beyond just prize money – which has been enhanced this year to NZD2 million (USD1.2 million).
“It would mean so much. Along with the Australian Open, the New Zealand Open is one of the biggest tournaments for us guys Down Under. It’s a very competitive field,” said Yuan.
“I think everyone’s aiming to win the New Zealand Open, because one win is going to get you so many cards – you got the Asian Tour, a lot of starts on the Japan Golf Tour, apart from the Australasian Tour. It’s just a very prestigious event and has so many of our best players’ names on it.”
Kevin Yuan. Picture by Khalid Redza / Asian Tour.
Yuan is very happy with the state of his golf, and his only concern is that he’d reach Queenstown from Muscat on Tuesday afternoon, which means he is only able to practice on one of the two courses being used this week.
“I’m pleased with the way I played in the first two events. Obviously, the scores were good, but also how I played. My course management has been good,” said Yuan.
“I feel like my game hasn’t really changed a lot. But I do feel like the bits and pieces are starting to add up. And it’s helped my score and helped me be in a good place. Hopefully, I can put together four solid rounds and let’s see where that takes us.
“I reached the venue late, but I have a fair idea of the golf courses from last year. Walked one of the courses on Tuesday evening and will play the other today.”
On his finish to the 2023 season, and then getting back to playing well this year, Yuan explained: “I didn’t really feel like I changed anything, or what I’m doing practice-wise. I feel like I’m still working on the same things and trying to focus on small details.
“But I really managed my mind better by trying to keep my confidence up these past couple of months. That’s helped it all come together.
“It also helped that we are in the middle of our golf season in Australia. I played a few events, but I also got time to work on my game. Going back was good as it helped me settle down. Working on things when you are on the road is quite a tough thing to do.
“I was at the Australian Golf Club, where I play, and I was able to analyse a few things that may have gone wrong. I also reflected on what I did well in 2023 and tried to take the positives from it. I think the key to the turnaround is just being patient and just keep doing what I’ve been doing.”
Yuan starts the tournament on the Coronet course at 12.35 local time alongside Josh Armstrong.
Cancer-survivor Michael Hendry firmly believes he can add a second New Zealand Open title to his resume when the 103rd edition of the event tees off in Queenstown on Thursday.
Now a cancer-free, leaner, fitter Hendry – more worldly for his experiences – is confident he can play a major hand at the New Zealand Open presented by Sky Sport at Millbrook Resort.
His last biopsy has come back negative of any trace of leukaemia and now he is turning his attention to achievement on the golf course.
“Success nine months ago would have been just being able to turn up,” said Hendry, who won his country’s National Open in 2017, also here at Millbrook, after a sudden-death play-off against Brad Kennedy and Ben Campbell. “Fortunately the hard work I have done has put me in a position where I feel I have a genuine chance to win the tournament if things click.”
Michael Hendry (far right) finished second in the World City Championship at Hong Kong Golf Club last year to earn a place in The Open but to the shock of the golfing world he was diagnosed with leukaemia soon after. Picture by Anthony Kwan/R&A/R&A via Getty Images.
It was in May last year, when he announced that he had been diagnosed with leukemia and would be taking indefinite leave from the game. He’d finished runner-up at the World City Championship in Hong Kong on the Asian Tour in March to earn a place in The Open but sadly had to forfeit his exemption.
However, four months later, he returned to the game, playing on the Charles Tour in New Zealand, where he soon after he triumphed.
He believes golf has been his medicinal solution.
“One thing that became apparent when I was at a stage where I was unsure how much longer I was going to live, was that I was going to enjoy every day I had left. My priorities were my family and what I do for a living.
“Golf was such a huge part of my recovery in my opinion. The mental drive and the goals push you to do things I wouldn’t necessarily have done in terms of health stuff – like the extra work in the gym – and I am convinced that made a massive difference to my recovery.
“The things driving me were my family and getting to full health to fulfil my responsibility to my kids and be the dad I want to be. And how do I earn money – it’s golf.”
And as he made improvements with his health, so too the hard work in the gym and a more rounded mental approach pay dividends. He has even found a few more metres off the tee as a benefit of his leaner and stronger frame.
“I have seen a massive difference in my mental health and in the way I approach my life on a daily basis. It is much more about maintaining balance and a sense of enjoyment with what I do, even when it is not going perfectly
“I am enjoying golf for what it is and it seems to have helped me with my mental and emotional situation.
“Golf is such a hard game. Skill is 90 percent of it and the more I play, the more I am convinced that the other 10 percent is purely fate.
Snow-capped peaks surrounded Millbrook Resort in Queenstown for the New Zealand Open presented by Sky Sport but the golf was red-hot for the 102nd staging of the event, last year.
Veteran Australian Brendan Jones stormed through with a closing five-under-par 66, to finish on 18 under and win by three from Australian John Lyras (64), New Zealand’s Ben Campbell (66), Korea’s Jaewoong Eom (67) and Tomoyo Ikemura (68) from Japan.
Jones, 49-years-old at the time, is a prolific winner of titles on the Japan Golf Tour, where he has won 15 times, but, surprisingly, it marked the first time he had triumphed on the ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia – despite a glittering 24-year professional career.
“This is just incredible. I’ve been supporting this event for many years, and I’ve always said to myself as long as my bum is pointing to the ground, I’ll never win it,” said Jones.
Brendan Jones after winning last year. Picture by Chris Symes/www.photosport.nz
“I don’t know what to think. When you are out there playing you aren’t thinking about winning, you are just thinking about playing. I hit a lot of good shots through the middle of the round, made some clutch par saves on a few of the holes coming in.”
Jones said he hit “the two best shots of my life” to make vital birdies down the stretch.
Indeed, he drew upon his wealth of experience to edge ahead of a packed leaderboard to claim his first title in four years.
He was tied on 15 under over the closing holes with a group of players but he pulled one ahead with a birdie on 14, went two in front after another gain on the following hole, before opening-up a three-shot lead that would remain with a birdie on the 17th.
He had a minor scare on 17, a par-five, when he blocked his second shot right, but his ball kicked off a bank and landed safely in a greenside bunker, from where he splashed out to four feet.
Jones started the final round four behind overnight leader Shae Wools-Cobb from Australia and played in the penultimate group. Wools-Cobb struggled on the final day carding a 78 to finish equal 26th.
Asian Tour regular Campbell, whose home club is Millbrook Resort and who was part of a dramatic play-off at the same venue in the 2017 New Zealand Open, losing to countryman Michael Hendry, was in the hunt but stumbled with a double-bogey on the 15th before birdies on the next two holes.
“I really wanted to shoot eight under today. I thought if I got to 18 under it would be a good score. I just had that in mind – Jonesy is a very good finisher and you know he isn’t going to go backwards too fast. Whether I pushed a little too hard – it is what it is,” he said.
Thailand’s Gunn Charoenkul shot a 69 was one of six players to finish four off the lead in a tie for sixth.
The Thai star missed birdie opportunities on 16 and 18 and an eagle chance on 17.
Brendon Jones in celebration mode. Picture by Andrew Cornaga / www.photosport.nz
“It’s been an incredible week. To follow up my second-place finish in Qatar [two weeks earlier] with a top finish here validates I am going in the right direction,” said Gunn, who was one of 33 Asian Tour members to make the cut, in an event joint-sanctioned by Asia and Australasia, in partnership with the Japan Golf Tour.
Two courses were used during the week – the Remarkables and Coronet Courses – in an event that also has a Pro-Am component. The same courses and format will be played this week. The event starts Thursday.
Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz upstaged Louis Oosthuizen and Joaquin Niemann to record a convincing victory in the US$2million International Series Oman today – the first of this year’s International Series events.
Ortiz, joint leader at the start of day with Oosthuizen and with a host of big-name players breathing down his neck, showed no fear and shot a seven-under-par 65 to top the leaderboard on 19-under.
He beat one of the pre-event favourites Oosthuizen by four, after the South African carded a 69 at Al Mouj Golf, here on the magical Muscat coastline, when the wind was up.
Niemann fired a 67 to take third place outright, one stroke further back, in the Asian Tour’s second event of the season.
Carlos Ortiz. Picture By Ian Walton/Asian Tour.
Ortiz brilliantly broke away from the pack with seven birdies in nine holes starting from the sixth. At the turn he had a two-shot lead thanks to birdies on six, seven and nine and left the field trailing in his wake with an eye-catching one-man show making birdies on 10, 11, 13 and 14.
He was able to stroll down the 18th with a four-shot lead over Oosthuizen.
Incredibly, Ortiz started the week with a double bogey on his opening hole on Thursday but after that he did not drop a stroke over the next 71 holes.
“With the way the wind was, I had to hold on for the first five holes,” said the 32-year-old Mexican – the former Fireballs GC player on the LIV Golf League who now plays for Torque GC, who are captained by Niemann.
“After that it was more downwind, so this is how this course plays and you have to take advantage of it. The wind then kind of calmed down and I attacked the pins, and I made some good putts.
“I hope this is the start of a great year. It means so much to win an International Series event. I would like to play in Majors this year and win on the LIV Golf League.”
Today’s win marks his first success on a main Tour since he claimed the Houston Open on the PGA Tour in 2020. It will also make up for losing in a sudden-death play-off for the individual title at last year’s LIV Golf Tucson. That performance did however help the Fireballs win the team title, one of two in 2023.
(L-R) Carlos Ortiz and Louis Oosthuizen. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.
He becomes only the third Mexican winner on the Asian Tour. Carlos Espinosa was the first at the 1995 Canlubang Classic in the Philippines, while Abraham Ancer, also playing this week, was the next, a mere 28 years later, at last year’s star-studded season-opening PIF Saudi International powered by Softbank Investment Advisers.
“He (Ortiz) definitely turned the burners on starting the sixth hole,” said 2010 Open champion Oosthuizen.
“You need to do that if you want to win an event. I didn’t really hit it close enough and when I was close enough I couldn’t make the putts. I had a solid round, placed nicely but not good enough. I love the golf course. I am definitely coming back here.”
Said Niemann: “I knew I needed to play good today, obviously it was tricky with the wind. I didn’t think Carlos (Ortiz) was gonna go that low today. I gave myself a lot of chances on the back nine, but I didn’t make birdies. I fought hard, and it was a lot of fun. I would have loved to have been in that group fighting with Carlos. This is good preparation for the next two weeks on LIV.”
Mito Pereira from Chile, also on Torque GC, tied for fourth six behind the winner following a 66, along with Australian Maverick Antcliff, who fired a 65.
Japan’s Takumi Kanaya defended his title well, closing with a 68 to take a share of seventh, on 11 under.
Last week’s winner of the Malaysian Open, Spain’s David Puig, tied for 10th after a 68.
Joaquin Niemann. Picture By Ian Walton/Asian Tour.
The Asian Tour travels to the Southern Hemisphere next week for the 103rd New Zealand Open presented by Sky Sport. The NZ$2million (approximately US$1.24million) event is being played on the Coronet and Remarkables Course at the Millbrook Resort, in Queenstown from February 29 – March 3. Australia’s Brendan Jones is the defending champion.
Louis Oosthuizen ended 2023 with two fine victories on home soil and it appears that could signify the start of something big this season as he ominously moved into a share of the third-round lead today in the US$2million International Series Oman.
He carded a five-under-par 67 at Al Mouj Golf in Muscat, to take pole position on 12-under with Mexican Carlos Ortiz, who shot a 68.
Thailand’s Prom Meesawat, in with the best round of the day – a 65 – is a shot further back in a tie for third with Filipino Justin Quiban (67), Travis Smyth (68) from Australia, Chinese amateur Sampson Zheng (68) and American Peter Uihlein (70).
Halfway leader Mito Pereira from Chile had a poor day, signing for a 76 to tumble down the leaderboard and end on seven under, in a tie for 15th.
Carlos Ortiz. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.
South Africa’s Oosthuizen won the Alfred Dunhill Championship and AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open back-to-back in December and made his move today clearly enjoying the challenge that Al Mouj Golf – voted by the Asian Tour players as the joint best course last year – offers.
“I played well,” said the 41-year-old, winner of The Open in 2010 and also a runner-up in six other Majors and third in two more.
“The greens are very firm. It’s good, they are running true. You need to really focus on where you want to land that second shot, so hitting fairways is very important.
“I am hitting it very well. I am still struggling a bit on the greens, finding the right lines, my speed and lines aren’t matching up but with the greens as good as this it’s a good test.”
On a day when the wind picked up slightly, he went expertly bogey-free and has only made one bogey through 54 holes, the fifth on day one.
Prom Meesawat. Picture By Ian Walton/Asian Tour.
He added: “When it is like this I try and hit as many greens in regulation. When it’s like this and not really going to the pin you pick out a position on the green and give yourself some kind of putt. I like when it’s tough like this, when you need to think your way around the golf course.”
He also won on the LIV Golf League last year when his Stinger GC team triumphed in Tulsa.
Ortiz has also kept a remarkably clean sheet with the only blemish coming on his very first hole on Thursday, where he made a double.
“I am playing solid, just trying to minimise mistakes, been trying to give myself some room and put pressure on those second shots,” said the Mexican, who is on the Torque GC team this season on LIV Golf having played for the Fireballs last season, when they won two events.
“I have done that really well, that’s been working. I am not trying to be too aggressive, just find the greens and give myself chances. It is the kind of golf course when you start pushing you can make mistakes.”
The appearance of Prom on the leaderboard will have been accompanied by a roar of applause on the Asian Tour.
Justin Quiban. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.
The popular 39-year-old is a two-time winner on the Asian Tour, but his last win came back at the 2014 Yeangder Tournament Players Championship.
Nicknamed the ‘Big Dolphin’ due to his big physique and the fact that he hails from the coastal town of Hua Hin in Thailand, he is clearly in his comfort zone here at Al Mouj Golf, also on a sun-drenched coastline like his home.
He said: “Playing seven-under-par for me on this golf course when it is windy is great. I am hitting well except for my second shot on the last. I was rolling my putts very good today. On the front nine when I had a chance for a birdie I made every putt.
“I just play my game, try to focus on myself and not compare with anyone. Just hit my shot, play my game, put myself in a good place to make birdies.
“I can’t reach some of these par-fives, so I just lay up, and hit a full wedge, and manage my game.”
The International Series Oman is the first event of year on The International Series, 10 upper-tier events sanctioned by the Asian Tour that provide a pathway to the LIV Golf League.
It’s also the second event of 2024 on the Asian Tour, which began at last week’s IRS Prima Malaysian Open, where victory went to Spaniard David Puig.
Puig shot a 70 and is six off the lead.
Defending champion Takumi Kanaya from Japan carded the same score and is one shot better.
Highly rated Chinese amateur Sampson Zheng is in a strong position going into round three of the International Series Oman today, and the renowned amateur chef is confident he has the right ingredients for success at Al Mouj Golf, here in Muscat.
Sampson, who regularly cooks for his University of California Berkeley team-mates, put together a sweet second round on Friday, and his three-under round of 69 took him to joint seventh on seven-under, four behind leader Mito Pereira from Chile, who plays on the LIV Golf League for Torque GC.
Starting on 10, he carded four birdies in his first eight, before dropping a shot on nine. On the front nine, he traded two birdies and two bogeys with an unfortunate three putt on the last. Despite the disappointing finish, he is optimistic, and believes more difficult conditions could be the secret sauce for a big push this weekend.
Sampson Zheng. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.
Sampson said: “Talking to my caddie after the round, I was definitely happy with how I played. But I think there was much more out there, and that makes me exciting for the weekend. My front nine (the back nine) I was cruising. I had birdie putts inside 20 feet on every hole and I just missed a couple.
“The front nine was more of a struggle. I didn’t have many opportunities really. I had one tough break where my ball hit the sprinkler head and landed in the rough. But other than that I missed two greens all day so that was good. The bogey on the last was bittersweet, not the best aftertaste, but it will make me come back stronger.
Regarding his chances of progress over the next two rounds, Sampson is hoping that the wind picks up and Al Mouj bares its teeth. He said: “Typically I play well in tough conditions. The greens are firm here and it is quite windy, so if that picks up I think it will suit me.”
The International Series Oman got underway on Thursday 22 February, and runs until Sunday. It is the opening event on The International Series and the second event on the Asian Tour calendar.
The International Series is a set of elevated tournaments on the Asian Tour that provide an open pathway for golfers from all over the world onto the LIV Golf League.
Chilean star Mito Pereira birdied his final four holes to charge into the halfway lead at the US$2million International Series Oman today – his stunning finishing matching the spectacular, scenic coastline here at Al Mouj Golf, in Muscat.
He shot a bogey-free six-under-par 66 to lead on 11-under by one from Matt Wolff from the United States, who overpowered the course with his renowned big-hitting game from the tee to equal the course record with a stunning nine-under round of 63.
American Peter Uihlein shot a 66 to finish the day tied third with Australian Kevin Yuan, who carded a 68. They are both on nine under, in the first event of the year on The International Series and the second stop of the season on the Asian Tour.
Overnight leader David Puig from Spain, last week’s winner of Malaysia’s National Open – the Asian Tour’s season opener – surprisingly shot a 75 to slide back to four-under.
Matthew Wolff. Picture By Ian Walton/Asian Tour.
“It was really nice. I played solid the whole day. Had a slow start, then at the end I made four birdies in a row,” said Pereira, who is attempting to win for the first time since the BMW Charity Pro-Am in 2021 on the Korn Ferry, although he was victorious four times last year on the LIV Golf League with Team Torque GC.
“I will approach the weekend the same, it’s been working the past two days so I will just keep trying to do that. Why change it? Try to hit every fairway and make some putts.”
Pereira, joint 11th here last year in the inaugural edition of the event, made just the one birdie on the front nine. A birdie on 10 was followed by a steady run of pars before his brilliant finish.
Wolff, who is on LIV Golf’s RangeGoats GC team, has been working hard to get his game back on track after a subdued few seasons. However, he finished fourth individually recently in LIV Golf Las Vegas and after today’s performance, he looks like being one of the favourites this weekend.
He said: “I had a blast. I drove it really nice which allowed everything else to be a little easier. I am taking golf a little less seriously. I am also working hard with my coach George Gankas, but more than anything just putting a good perspective on things. Knowing that golf is not the most important thing in the world. I know that all I can do is give it my best, and the rest is out of my control.”
He also did not drop a shot, made five birdies going out, and four coming back to resemble the golfer who made such a big impact on the game when he turned professional in 2019 and won on the PGA Tour.
Kevin Yuan. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.
Yuan also impressed today and showed why he is one of the most exciting young prospects on the Asian Tour, and something of a specialist on The International Series.
Aged 26 and from Sydney, he birdied 17 and 18, which were two of his six birdies, and made two bogeys, both on the outward half.
He said: “I am really happy with the score and with how I played and my course management. I played pretty solid yesterday. Didn’t make many mistakes so happy with it overall.
“The golf course is awesome, the fairways are pure, the greens are rolling really nice, a 30-footer on the right line has a really good chance. It is just awesome to be out here.”
He ended fifth last week off the back of a breakthrough 2023 season when he finished joint second in the International Series Vietnam, and fifth in the International Series Thailand. Those results helped him into 32nd place on the Asian Tour Order of Merit.
“My game has not changed that much but the bits and pieces are starting to add up. It has really helped with my score, with my play. Hopefully I can keep this up,” he added.
Thailand’s Sarit Suwannarut (68) and Mexican Carlos Ortiz (69) are tied fifth on eight under.
For Sarit it was his fourth successive 68 after carding the same score as his first round, having shot 68 in the last two rounds last week, which helped him into 22nd place.
“I am pretty happy,” said Sarit, winner of last year’s Volvo China Open – an event on The International Series.
“I have been working with my coach and my team to be more consistent. It showed last week when I played consistently.
Sarit Suwannarut. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.
“I am working on my mental side, how to behave on the golf course, focus shot by shot, focus on what I have to do, not the result or the outcome. I think it is working pretty good.”
Defending champion Takumi Kanaya from Japan added a 69 to his opening 70 and is well placed heading into the weekend on five under in a tie with a strong group that includes Zimbabwe’s Kieran Vincent (69) Lucas Herbert (69) from Australia, Chilean Joaquin Niemann (73), Korea’s Bio Kim (70) and Ervin Chang (71) from Malaysia.
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