Englishman Paul Casey, the Swedish duo of Fredrik Andersson Hed and Johan Edfors, and Chawalit Plaphol of Thailand produced some fabulous golf to emerge as joint first round leaders of the TCL Classic on a day of soaring standards at the Yalong Bay Golf Club, Sanya, Hainan Island, China, as The European Tour’s second visit to China of season 2005 got off to a flying start – with 125 players out of a field of 168 posting scores under par.
Andersson Hed, Casey, Edfors and Plaphol all carded opening rounds of eight under par 64, with no less than nine players just one shot off that rapid early pace and a further ten players on six under par.
Ryder Cup star Casey got off to an excellent start at Yalong Bay GC, birdieing his opening two holes before picking up further shots on the eight and ninth to turn in four under par 32. He came home in equally effective fashion, putting together four straight birdies from the 12th to 15th to post the clubhouse target of eight under par.
Andersson Hed looked unlikely to threaten that lead after seven holes of his first round, the 35 year old having started the day with seven straight pars before shifting through the gears and into overdrive with a brilliant display of four birdies and two eagle threes in his closing 12 holes.
Edfors, meanwhile, had a similarly productive day to his fellow countryman and Casey, carding an outstanding first round score that included an eagle two at the par four tenth.
The Swede, who won the European Challenge Tour Rankings in 2003, had turned in three under 33 before that eagle, and actually got to nine under and into the outright lead through 17 holes after birdies at the 13th, 14th, 16th and 17th before his only dropped shot of the day on the 18th green.
While Andersson Hed, Casey and Edfors flew the flag for Europe at this joint-sanctioned event between The European Tour and the Asian Tour, in collaboration with the China Golf Association, Plaphol was the Asian Tour’s top man after the first round.
The Thai professional put together an impressive nine birdies, eight pars and just one single dropped shot to join the European trio at the leaderboard’s summit.
There is a group of four current and former European Ryder Cup players among those players within a few shots of the lead. England’s Paul Broadhurst and Ireland’s Paul McGinley are on seven under, Denmark’s Thomas Björn is six under, while Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie – the 2002 TCL Classic champion – opened his week with a 67 for a five under par total.
