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Porsche Singapore Classic - Day one digest
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Porsche Singapore Classic - Day one digest

Everything you need to know from day one in Singapore.

There was a trio tied at the top, Andrea Pavan was keeping his foot down, Ugo Coussaud was going long and short and Rikuya Hoshino was doing special things from the sand on day one of the Porsche Singapore Classic.

Here is everything you need to know from Thursday at Laguna National Golf Resort Club.

Trio tied at the top

Gavin Green carded a brilliant 64 in windy conditions to join Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Jordan Smith at the top of the leaderboard after day one. Multiple DP World Tour winners Aphibarnrat and Smith had set the target in the morning and it looked like they would not be caught as conditions got more difficult in the afternoon. But Malaysian Green, looking for his maiden DP World Tour victory, carded an eagle, seven birdies and a bogey to buck the trend in the second-wave scoring and join them at eight under. That meant that two Asian players were among a share of the lead as the Asian Swing got under way, one shot clear of Frenchman Coussaud and two ahead of Scot Grant Forrest, England's Richard Mansell, Italian Pavan and Germany's Freddy Schott.

Pavan takes route 66

Pavan was eager to "keep pushing" as he continued his climb back to the top with his lowest round on the DP World Tour for over two years. The Italian claimed his second DP World Tour title in 2019 but over the next three seasons he made just 14 cuts in 63 events, not playing a single weekend for 12 months from August 2020. He is now back on Tour after a season on the European Challenge Tour and his 66 in round one was his lowest DP World Tour round since the 2021 D+D Real Czech Masters. "This game, you never know, it can just happen and I feel like when you're playing well you should just keep pushing," he said.

Numbers game for Coussaud

French rookie Coussaud did something in round one that is very rare indeed and that he had never done before in his career. He birdied all four of the par fives AND all four of the par threes. He was also one under combined on the par fours and in the solo lead before he double-bogeyed his last hole. With eight made cuts in a row including a second-placed finish in Qatar, Coussaud is one to watch this week.

Making it look easy

They say the 50-100 yard bunker shot is the hardest shot in golf. Somebody forgot to tell Hoshino.

Caddie chat

Have a look - and more importantly a listen - to this. Smith and Shane Lowry talk with their caddies.

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