Jan 26, 2017: Angelo Que of the Philippines recovered from a slow start to share the first round lead with Azuma Yano of Japan on six-under-par 65 at the Leopalace21 Myanmar Open on Thursday.
India’s Shiv Kapur scored bogey-free four under 67 including an eagle in the first round and placed at tied-10.
Que opened with a bogey but fought back with seven birdies to tie with last year’s runner-up Yano at the US$750,000 event sanctioned by the Asian Tour and Japan Golf Tour.
The bubbly Filipino, who is a three-time Asian Tour winner, has a chance to redeem himself after finishing in a share of 11th place in Singapore last week when he double bogeyed the last hole.
Yano, a three-time winner in Japan but not since 2008, took his place atop the leaderboard as he aims to better last year’s second place finish at the Leopalace21 Myanmar Open.
Korean star K.T. Kim, a 13-time champion in Japan, trailed the leaders by one-shot as he shared third place alongside countryman Junggon Hwang and Jbe Kruger of South Africa, who qualified for The Open through the Qualifying Series Singapore last week.
Makoto Inoue of Japan, Keith Horne of South Africa, American rookie Kim Sihwan and Thailand’s Sutijet Kooratanapisan were also bunched up in third place at the Pun Hlaing Golf Club.
Interesting facts of the day:
- Angelo Que birdied the three par-fives and sank only 26 putts in his round.
- Que has a unique pre-match routine where he does not go to the driving range. He only chips and putts before heading out for his round.
- Que is called the “human highlighter” because of how he dresses in bright coloured attire.
- Que was in contention at the SMBC Singapore Open last week before finishing tied 11th. He would have finished in tied sixth place if not for a double bogey on the 72nd hole.
- Azuma Yano finished tied second at the Leopalace21 Myanmar Open last year albeit on a different golf course. He ended his campaign four shots back of the champion Shaun Norris.
- Yano only missed two greens in regulation and the highlight of his round was when he holed four straight birdies from the 15th hole.
- K.T. Kim was bogey free in a round of five birdies. He found 12 out of 14 fairways and averaged drives of 294 yards.
Asian Tour Release
