Johor Bahru, Malaysia: Malaysian R. Nachimuthu produced a majestic eight-under-par 64 to grab a one-shot lead from countryman Shaaban Hussin in the first round of the PGM Johor Championship on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Straight-hitting Nachimuthu nailed eight birdies in an unblemished round at the Johor Golf and Country Club, thanks largely to him finding 17 greens in regulation at the RM200,000 (approximately US$55,400) Asian Development Tour event.<\/p>\n
Shaaban snared an eagle, seven birdies and two bogeys to spearhead the chasing pack with his 65 while current ADT Order of Merit leader Hsieh Chi-hsien of Chinese Taipei, who was victorious on home soil two weeks ago, American Greg Moss, Nicholas Fung and S. Murthy of Malaysia are a further stroke back.<\/p>\n
“I just hit it solid,” said Nachimuthu, a former number one on the local Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) Tour. “Being bogey free is always nice on this course. If I putt well, I can always score as my ball striking is normally not a problem.”<\/p>\n
Starting his day from the 10th tee, Nachimuthu turned in 31, rolling in a tricky 15-foot downhill birdie putt on 18 which provided the highlight of his round.<\/p>\n
“It was a difficult putt, I didn’t expect that one to go in as I was just trying to park it. The other birdies were pretty much from close range, inside of 10 feet,” he said.<\/p>\n
“I’m familiar with this course. You have to keep it on the fairway which is very much my game. This is probably my best round on the ADT and I will keep to my game plan, which is to hit fairways and greens. If I decide on driver on a hole, I will stick to the plan. It’s always good to have a clear mind when you play.”<\/p>\n
Shaaban was delighted with his fast start, which included an eagle on the par five 11th hole. “I’ve been on fire since I shot a 62 in the final round of another tournament last week,” said the slender Malaysian, who has registered two top-10s on the ADT this season.<\/p>\n
“I played really well again and I’m hitting the irons really good … hitting them close. I did miss a few putts, probably some six chances from about eight feet. If I can putt better, the score would be lower.”<\/p>\n
Shaaban found joy with a seven-foot eagle conversion at his second hole of the day on 11 where he nailed a four hybrid approach from 210 yards to near perfection. He then made four birdies in a row from the 14th hole to turn in 30.<\/p>\n
“I hit it really high and good and the ball stopped close to the pin for my eagle. I played easy golf again, just hitting a lot of greens and whenever I made a putt, the ball went in,” he said.<\/p>\n
The winner of the PGM Johor Championship will take home a winner’s prize purse of US$9,436 and earn six Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points.<\/p>\n
The ADT will reward the top-five finishers on the Order of Merit at the end of this season with Asian Tour cards for 2016.<\/p>\n
With the Olympic Games looming in 2016 where golf will be reintroduced as a medal sport, players in the region can earn their spots in Rio de Janeiro by earning OWGR points through the Asian Tour and ADT.<\/p>\n
For more information on the ADT, please visit www.asiandevelopmenttour.com<\/p>\n
Leading first round scores<\/strong><\/p>\n 64: R. Nachimuthu (Mas)<\/p>\n 65: Shaaban HUSSIN (Mas)<\/p>\n 66: HSIEH Chi-hsien (Tpe) , S. Murthy (Mas), Nicholas FUNG (Mas), Greg MOSS (USA) <\/p>\n 67: Casey O’TOOLE (USA), Blake SNYDER (USA), LAM Chih Bing (Sin)<\/p>\n 68: Michael TRAN (Vie), Wilson CHOO (Mas), Ichiro SUZUKI (Jpn – am)<\/p>\n 69: Oskar ARVIDSSON (Swe)<\/p>\n 70: Tyler EKENBERG (USA), Arwed FISCHER (Ger), Annop TANGKAMOLPRASERT (Tha)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Johor Bahru, Malaysia: Malaysian R. Nachimuthu produced a majestic eight-under-par 64 to grab a one-shot lead from countryman Shaaban Hussin in the first round of the PGM Johor Championship on Wednesday.<\/p>\n Straight-hitting Nachimuthu nailed eight birdies in an unblemished round at the Johor Golf and Country Club, thanks largely to him finding 17 greens in regulation at the RM200,000 (approximately US$55,400) Asian Development Tour event.<\/p>\n Shaaban snared an eagle, seven birdies and two bogeys to spearhead the chasing pack with his 65 while current ADT Order of Merit leader Hsieh Chi-hsien of Chinese Taipei, who was victorious on home soil two weeks ago, American Greg Moss, Nicholas Fung and S. Murthy of Malaysia are a further stroke back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-world-golf-news"],"yoast_head":"\n