Labuan, Malaysia, September 27: Sweden’s Oskar Arvidsson set the early pace by carding an opening seven-under-par 65 at the PGM Labuan Championship on Wednesday.
The Sweden, who holds one Asian Development Tour (ADT) title, mixed his card with eight birdies and one bogey to establish a four-shot lead over the Malaysian duo of R. Nachimuthu and M. Sasidaran who returned with matching 69s at the RM200,000 (approximately US$44,600) event.
Thailand’s Nitithorn Thippong and James Bowen of the United States carded identical 70s to take fourth place while China’s Liu Yan-wei is among the nine players bunched in tied-sixth place at the Labuan International Golf Club.
Arvidsson, who started on the back-nine 10, stormed off the block quickly with three successive birdies. He dropped a shot on 13 but recovered immediately with another birdie on 14.
After turning in 33, the Swede then extended his advantage further by firing another four birdies on holes three, six, seven and nine to end his round with a 65.
“I’m happy to be playing well and putting myself in a good position. My wedges and mid-irons were really good today and I managed to take advantage of my birdie opportunities.
“It’s still early days but if I can play the way I did today, anything can happen,” said Arvidsson.
By featuring on the ADT schedule, the PGM Labuan Championship will offer Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points. The winner will receive six OWGR points while the top six players and ties will also earn points based on a sliding scale.
For more information on the ADT, please visit www.asiandevelopmenttour.com.
Leading first round scores
65 – Oskar ARVIDSSON (SWE)
69 – R. Nachimuthu (MAS), M. Sasidaran (MAS)
70 – Nitithorn THIPPONG (THA), James BOWEN (USA)
71 – Kenneth DE SILVA (MAS), Janne KASKE (FIN), LIU Yan-wei (CHN), Blake SNYDER (USA), Natthapong NIYOMCHON (THA), Pannakorn UTHAIPAS (THA), Panuwat MUENLEK (THA), CHOO Tze Huang (SGP), TAN Chien Hau (MAS)
