Defending champion Pavit Tangkamolprasert of Thailand battled to a 72 to tie in 47th place while reigning Order of Merit champion Scott Hend of Australia came in a further shot back in tied-65th position at the Macao Open, which is celebrating its 19th edition this week.

 

 

 

India’s Gaganjeet Bhullar packed a punch as he put up an outstanding display of golf by signing for a flawless seven-under-par 64 to grab the opening round lead with Korean duo Yikeun Chang and Giwhan Kim at the Macao Open on Thursday.

 

 

Bhullar, a former winner of the tournament in 2012, posted seven birdies while Kim was equally impressive at the Macau Golf and Country Club.

 

The 23-year-old Chang fired a superb back-nine 29 highlighted by four birdies and an eagle-two on the third hole.

 

The in-form Ajeetesh Sandhu of India signaled his strong intentions of winning a third straight title when he signed for a 66 to trail by two shots in fourth place with Thailand’s Danthai Boonma at the US$500,000 Asian Tour event.

 

Chinese Taipei’s Hung Chien-yao, Filipino ace Angelo Que and Wolmer Murillo of Venezuela, who just won his maiden Asian Development Tour (ADT) title last week, are three shots off the pace in tied-sixth position.

 

Defending champion Pavit Tangkamolprasert of Thailand battled to a 72 to tie in 47th place while reigning Order of Merit champion Scott Hend of Australia came in a further shot back in tied-65th position at the Macao Open, which is celebrating its 19th edition this week.

 

Gaganjeet Bhullar said, "It was a good round overall. I hit the ball really good. I just kept on giving myself birdie opportunities and the game went accordingly to my plan. The putter went a bit cold on my back nine. I didn’t hole any birdie putts coming in but I gave myself a lot of good looks.

 

There are still a lot of golf left to go. I sank some good long putts for birdies today. I made a 30-footer on 14 and nailed another long birdie putt on 17 from close to 30 feet. I read the line perfectly for those two putts. I also nailed a trickling right to left putt from 15 feet on 11.

 

It was a good solid round overall. It wasn’t easy out there. The wind was just confusing. It was coming from all over the place. Even on my last few holes coming back, the wind was still blowing hard. To shoot a seven-under under these conditions, I am really happy.

 

I think the course condition is the best that I have played here so far. The greens are rolling so good. They are just honest. If you’re stroking the putt well, you will definitely go low this week. The goal is to repeat what I did today and get on to a good momentum for tomorrow."

Did you know?

 

• Bhullar needed only 27 putts in his round of 64. Starting from the 10th hole, Bhullar fired five birdies to turn in 31 before picking up two more birdies on his way home.
• The 29-year-old Bhullar is a seven-time winner on the Asian Tour. He bounced back from a wrist injury, which he incurred in 2014, by winning the 2016 Shinhan Donghae Open. He went on to clinch his second title of the season two months later at the Indonesia Open.
• 2016 was the second year that Bhullar won twice in a single season in his career. He last achieved that feat in 2012, the same year when he won the Macao Open.
• Kim is playing in his fourth attempt at the Macao Open. His opening 64 is his best round at the Macau Golf and Country Club. The 26-year-old missed the halfway cut in his last three attempts.
• Kim sits in 68th position on the current Order of Merit. He enjoyed a tied-sixth place finish at the Shinhan Donghae Open on home soil last month. He needs to finish inside the top-60 on the final Order of Merit to keep his Tour card for 2018.