KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians Gavin Kyle Green and V. Khavish Varman carded identical seven-under 64s to share fourth spot – just two shots behind joint leaders Veer Ahlawat of India and Jazz Janewattananond of Thailand – in the opening round of the Malaysian Open Golf Championship at The Mines Resort & Golf Club, Seri Kembangan here yesterday.
While Gavin soared with five birdies and one eagle, Khavish mixed nine birdies with two bogeys to stay in contention behind Veer and Jazz, who shot identical nine-under 62s in the first event of the season on the Asian Tour.
Canadian Richard Taehoon Lee is third with an eight-under 63.
But the day belonged to Veer and Jazz.
Veer steered his way to the top by carding 10 birdies against a lone bogey on the 18th while Jazz dazzled with seven birdies and an eagle at the 11th hole.
And Jazz was purring after his splendid opening round.
“Really good start to the week and the year as well. A good long break seems to have done me some good. I got a lot of rest and played some good golf.
“I went to (South) Korea to work with a new coach at BFG Korea – a golf school – and it did me a lot of good…,” said Jazz.
Gavin, meanwhile, hopes to be able to shoot more birdies and eagles in the second round tomorrow to maintain his charge.
“Not many big mistakes, I gave myself a lot of chances. I hit it well enough and missed a couple of putts but the main thing is that I am consistent. It is something that I am looking for and something that my coach and I are working on.
“Other than that, we gave ourselves a lot of looks. Hit a lot of greens and made a nice eagle on the 17th. That really kick-started the round. Started with very simple pars, nothing crazy, and a couple of birdies dropped,” he told reporters.
Khavish can also look back on his opening day with pride, especially after starting the day with a bogey on the par-four first hole.
“The first day you must always put yourself into position, but I am normally not that good on the first days, and I am always looking to catch up in the last few days. The goal is to keep myself in contention and that’s what I did,” Khavish said.
Meanwhile, seven golfers – Danthai Boonma (Thailand), John Catlin (United States), Lee Chieh-Po (Taiwan), Steve Lewton (England), Park Lion (South Korea), Justin Quiban (Philippines) and Kevin Yuan (Australia) – stayed within touching distance just three strokes behind the leaders in joint sixth place on six-under 65.
Other Malaysians who did well on day one included Nor Heikal Nor Hadi, who fired a five-under 66 to be tied for 13th spot and Ben Leong, who carded a three-under 68 to be joint 37th.
Further afield, Malaysians Anson Yeo, Shaifubari Muda and Danial Faidz Jazmi are tied at the 58th spot on two-under 69. – BERNAMA
