Chinese Taipei: England\u2019s Steve Lewton fired an opening seven-under-par 65 to snatch the first round lead at the Ballantine\u2019s Taiwan Championship on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The 30-year-old began his campaign strongly by marking his card with eight birdies against one bogey to take a healthy three-shot lead over Canadian Lindsay Renolds at the US$110,000 Asian Development Tour (ADT) event.<\/p>\n
Shaun Malone of England returned with a 69 to stay one shot back of Renolds while another 10 players, including veteran Wang Ter-chang and former Malaysian Open winner Yeh Wei-tze, recorded matching 70s for a share of fourth place at the Sunrise Golf and Country Club.<\/p>\n
Chinese Taipei\u2019s Lin Wen-tang, winner of six Asian Tour tournaments, opened with a 71 to tie at 14th while compatriot Lu Wei-chih, playing in his first tournament after undergoing surgery to remove a brain tumour a year ago, carded a 72 which included a triple bogey on the ninth hole.\n<\/p>\n
Only 18 players out of 144 managed to finish under par in the first round of the Ballantine\u2019s Taiwan Championship which is the richest ADT tournament on the schedule.<\/p>\n
Lewton was delighted with his game following a rough season since coming through the Qualifying School in Thailand earlier this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very pleased with how I played. I think I played really nicely and I didn\u2019t make any mistakes. In fact, I\u2019ve been doing quite well for the past one month or so. I hope to keep that up,\u201d said Lewton, who regained his Asian Tour card after finishing tied sixth at the Qualifying School.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere have been a couple of ups and downs this season but I\u2019m glad to be back on track again. Hopefully, I\u2019m on my way up. I\u2019m looking forward to the next round tomorrow,\u201d added the tall Englishman.<\/p>\n
Renolds, who is currently third on the ADT Order of Merit, hopes to extend his recent good run of form.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I played really well. I tried to stay patient. It\u2019s a beautiful course although conditions were kind of tough out there. It got really windy when I was approaching the last few holes. I will have to try and stay out of trouble and be patient if I want to play well this week,\u201d said Renolds, who has finished top-10 in the last three tournaments on the ADT, which is a feeder circuit to the premier Asian Tour.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe recent top 10 finishes have given me a lot of confidence in my game but I am not as happy with my game today as I was for the last few weeks. I think it could be the fatigue from all the travelling. I\u2019ll try to get some rest and hopefully play better tomorrow,\u201d added the Canadian, who mixed his card with one eagle, five birdies and three bogeys.<\/p>\n
Malone, on the other hand, is optimistic with his game despite a shaky start.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a shaky start and I was actually quite nervous but overall, I\u2019m happy with how I\u2019ve played today. Conditions are quite tough but it\u2019s one of the best courses I\u2019ve played. I will try to focus on my game and hopefully, play better tomorrow,\u201d said Malone.<\/p>\n
China\u2019s Ye jian feng, unfortunately, had to withdraw from the Ballantine\u2019s Taiwan Championship due to a wrist injury incurred after hitting a root on the 12th hole.<\/p>\n
Title holder Hsieh Chi-hsien carded a 73 to tie for 29th place while current ADT Order of Merit leader American James Bowen posted a 75.<\/p>\n
All ADT events receive Official World Golf Ranking points, which will be used to determine the field for the World Cup of Golf in Melbourne in November and the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.<\/p>\n
Winners on the ADT will receive a minimum of six world ranking points while the top six players and ties will earn points based on a sliding scale.<\/p>\n
A total of 14 tournaments have been confirmed this season, which is a record for the ADT since its inauguration in 2010.<\/p>\n
For more information on the ADT, please visit www.asiandevelopmenttour.com.<\/p>\n
65 \u2013 Steve LEWTON (ENG)<\/p>\n 68 \u2013 Lindsay RENOLDS (CAN)<\/p>\n 69 \u2013 Shaun MALONE (ENG)<\/p>\n 70 \u2013 WANG Ter-chang (TWN), Grant JACKSON (ENG), LIN Kuan-po (TWN), CHO Tsung-lin (TWN), LEE Chieh-po (A) (TWN), Spencer SHISHIDO (USA), YEH Wei-tze (TWN), Peter RICHARDSON (ENG), SUNG Mao-chang (TWN), Daniel BRINGOLF (AUS)<\/p>\n 71 \u2013 Tommy MANSUWAN (THA), LIN Wen-tang (TWN), WANG Tsung-chieh (TWN), HUNG Chien-yao (TWN), LU Jia-yu (TWN)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Chinese Taipei: England\u2019s Steve Lewton fired an opening seven-under-par 65 to snatch the first round lead at the Ballantine\u2019s Taiwan Championship on Thursday.<\/p>\n The 30-year-old began his campaign strongly by marking his card with eight birdies against one bogey to take a healthy three-shot lead over Canadian Lindsay Renolds at the US$110,000 Asian Development Tour (ADT) event.<\/p>\n Shaun Malone of England returned with a 69 to stay one shot back of Renolds while another 10 players, including veteran Wang Ter-chang and former Malaysian Open winner Yeh Wei-tze, recorded matching 70s for a share of fourth place at the Sunrise Golf and Country Club.<\/p>\n Chinese Taipei\u2019s Lin Wen-tang, winner of six Asian Tour tournaments, opened with a 71 to tie at 14th while compatriot Lu Wei-chih, playing in his first tournament after undergoing surgery to remove a brain tumour a year ago, carded a 72 which included a triple bogey on the ninth hole.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-world-golf-news"],"yoast_head":"\n
Leading first round scores:<\/strong><\/p>\n