Liu Yung-hua of Chinese Taipei birdied his final hole to take a slender lead after the first day of the Ambassador ADT Open at Hsin Feng Country Club today.



The 27-year-old golfer, who won the BNI Ciputra Golfpreneur tournament in August, has already made three appearances on the Asian Tour this year and showed his mettle with a four-under-par 68. 

He holds a one shot lead in the US$100,000 Asian Development Tour event over compatriot Yeh Chia-yin (69) in solo second.

They are trailed by Hong Kong’s Leon D’Souza, Korea’s Minhyeok Yang and He Chin-hung, also of Chinese Taipei, in third place a further shot back.

“Despite the wind, the fairways were solid, and with a few birdie chances, staying focused and aiming true really paid off today,” said Liu after his round.

“I did make some adjustments by hitting with a trajectory that was half of my usual ball flight, taking into account the wind to adjust my shot direction. I executed the strategy well, though the winds were the strongest I have encountered this year,” he added.

“It’s always a great experience to play an ADT event on home turf,” he said, “there’s something special about competing where you feel most at ease.”



Aidric Jose Chan of the Philippines shares sixth spot on 71 at one-under-par, alongside K.P. Lin and Wang Hsi-an of Chinese Taipei and India’s Varun Chopra.



Thailand’s Itthipat Buranatanyarat posted an even par 72 to share 10th place with the Chinese Taipei duo of Yu Sung-po and Lin Chie-hsiang.



Current ADT Order of Merit leader Rahil Gangee posted a one over par 73 and sits in 13th spot alongside Pakistan’s Ahmad Baig, his closest challengers in the race to the 2024 OOM title.

They share 13th place with Hsieh Chi-hsien and Huang Chi of Chinese Taipei, Japan’s Tsutomu Kikuta and Thailand’s Witchayapat Sinsrang, Nirun Sae-ueng and Nopparat Panichphol, winner of the previous ADT tournament.

With only two more events remaining this season, there will be some jostling for position in the OOM rankings.

Although the two top runners have opened a small gap after two victories each this season, the other contenders are tightly grouped with a tournament win each already this year.

Third-placed Tanapat Pichaikool of Thailand is in 29th spot after an opening round score of 75, and leader Liu will be looking to improve on his position in fourth place. Both have wins in Indonesia this year.

With fifth-placed Matthew Cheung not teeing it up this week, Nopparat, who won in Cambodia last month, will be looking to improve his sixth place ahead of Kammalas Namuangruk (77) who won in Thailand in May.

With a total of 126 golfers taking part in the 72-hole tournament, the second round will begin on schedule off two tees at 6.20am local time. The afternoon session will begin at 10.50am.