June 4: Runchanapong Youprayong, who finished third in last week’s Asian Development Tour (ADT) event here at Mazagan Beach & Golf Resort, took advantage of his familiarity with the golf course to open a one-shot lead in the US$500,000 am green IGPL Bharath Classic at the same venue.

The Thai star needed to finish inside the top-two to guarantee himself a spot in this week’s Asian Tour event but played his last 10 holes to one-over par. Bangladesh’s Siddikur Rahman birdied the last hole to finish runner-up and clinched the spot. Runchanapong then had a bit of an anxious wait before getting his entry confirmed.

The 26-year-old from Bangkok made the most of the situation by shooting eight birdies in a superb round of seven-under par 65, jumping to the top of the leaderboard and raising hopes of his maiden win on the Asian Tour.

Karandeep Kochhar, another player who learned a lot from his outing here last week – albeit through a missed cut – shot a 66 and was tied for second place alongside Australia’s Will Florimo and Austria’s Nicklas Regner.

Karandeep Kochhar of India. Picture courtesy: IGPL.

The tournament, which forms part of the Asian Tour’s three-week visit to Morocco, is co-sanctioned by the Indian Premier Golf League (IGPL), and Kochhar was the best-placed IGPL player.

Two of the hottest players on the Tour – South Africa’s Ian Snyman and New Zealand’s Nick Voke and Aussie Jed Morgan were in tied fifth place with rounds of 67.

The 26-year-old Runchanapong started from the first tee, birdied two of the first three holes before making his only bogey of the day on the par-4 fourth. He was six-under par for his last 11 holes.

“I felt like I hit in good positions quite a lot, and I planned my way around the golf course pretty well,” said Runchanapong, who also has three top-three finishes on the All Thailand Golf Tour (ATGT) this year. “That was the key takeaway that I learned from last week – where I want to leave the golf shot.

“I made a lot of birdies, but my favourite one was the chip-in on the ninth hole. It was playing downwind and I hit it long, over the green. I didn’t calculate that well. It was like a 15-yard shot from the rough and I holed it.

“The course is a bit different from what we played last week, because for the first two rounds, they shortened most tees. Today, they tipped it out every hole and the wind felt much stronger, which makes it a little bit more difficult.”

Kochhar, from the northern Indian city of Chandigarh, missed the cut last week with two rounds of 73. After making seven birdies and a solitary bogey on Thursday, he said he spent a lot of time working on his game, especially his putting.

“I think I played really well, really consistent all day. I thought I hit the ball really well last week as well, but my putting was just not there. The pace on the greens wasn’t there. I put in a lot of work over the weekend and the first three days here from Monday to Wednesday, and all that work was really helpful today,” said Kochhar, winner of an ADT event in Egypt last year.

“The conditions weren’t easy. I think today was definitely a little windier than last week. The tees were also pushed back compared to last week. It made a lot of difference because on a couple of holes, what lines you take off the tee changes. I hit a hybrid on one par-three and a couple for my second shots on par-fours. The course was definitely playing longer.”

Will Florimo of Australia. Picture courtesy: IGPL

Regner, who also won an ADT event in Egypt last year, said he made some swing changes with his coach in Austria and was delighted to see results so quickly.

“I made some swing changes last week with my coach (Dominic Angkawidjaja) in Austria. While it’s not any major changes, it’s pretty much going back to where I’ve been when I played my best. It was just a two-and-a-half-hour session and I kind of felt that’s where my swing should be,” said Regner.

“I gained a little bit of confidence as well in the driving range and played quite decently in that practice round yesterday and on Tuesday. So yeah, it was pretty cool that first round went that good.”

Florimo, winner of the Heritage Classic on the PGA Tour of Australasia earlier this season, made three birdies on either side of the golf course in his 66.

“I had a week off, which was nice. I did not touch any clubs. It was really nice from tee-to-green today and I hit it really well. But I only holed one 16-footer, and I did not touch the hole from outside five feet any other time,” said the Brisbane resident.

After back-to-back tournaments at Mazagan Beach & Golf Resort, built on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, the Asian Tour will move to Rabat next week for the US$2 million International Series Morocco presented by Visit Morocco.