Benn Barham moved into the lead in the weather-interrupted first round of the Caltex Masters, presented by Carlsberg, Singapore 2003, before revealing his unusual preparation for the event could well have been the key to his success.
The 26 year old Challenge Tour graduate carded a superb seven under par 65 in the sweltering heat at Laguna National Golf and Country Club, one of only 72 players to complete their first round as thunder and lightning over the course forced play to be abandoned for the day at 5.50pm.
Of those who did manage to hand in their cards, Barham, out in the first group of the day, proved the pick of the bunch to move a shot clear of the field, his effort all the more remarkable because he had no time for a practice round.
Barham, whose closest challengers were Paul Broadhurst, Simon Khan and Jeev Milkha Singh, only arrived in Singapore on Tuesday morning from South Africa and, being exhausted, restricted his ‘practice’ to walking nine holes that afternoon and the other nine the following morning.
“Funnily enough the last time I shot 65 in the first round of a tournament was in the Scottish PGA Championship at Gleneagles in 2000 when I was first reserve and didn’t play a practice round then either,” said Barham, who went on to finish fourth in Scotland, still his best finish in a European Tour event.
“Maybe I should do that all the time, just travel out to a tournament a day later and just walk the course rather than play it – it certainly seems to be working!”
Ironically, Barham looked far from leader material when his five wood tee shot found the water at the 13th hole, his fourth of the day, and he ran up a double bogey six. But the Englishman recovered manfully with a string of birdies, including six in seven holes from the 17th to forge up the leaderboard.
Of the three players who ended their first rounds with 66, the best finish came from England’s Simon Khan who closed with three birdies in his last four holes, while fellow countryman Paul Broadhurst recovered from dropping a shot at the first hole, some resolute form on the greens helping him to prominence.
“I’m delighted because 66 any time is a good score,” said Broadhurst. “I probably played better last week for three days than I did today but I putted awfully. Today I had 24 putts – last week I averaged 32. That’s a big difference.”
Alongside them, Jeev Milkha Singh was equally delighted. “It’s a bit of a shock to shoot 66 to be honest,” said the Indian. “It is good to know I still have it in me. I putted well and drove the ball well today, although my driving could still be a little better.”
One of the players who did not finish was pre-tournament favourite Ernie Els who recovered from an uncertain start to birdie four out of five holes from the 11th to move to five under par for his round after 15 holes when the klaxon sounded.
“I’m not really disappointed to have stopped,” admitted Els. “I can go home now because I’m happy with the way I came back on the back nine. I hit a good drive down the 16th so we can go home happy and come back tomorrow, it doesn’t make any difference.”
Exactly half the field – 72 players – will have to return in the morning at 8.00am to complete their first rounds, before the second round, which will be delayed by one hour and 15 minutes, begins.
