England’s Nick Dougherty launched his defence of the OSIM Singapore Masters with a solid three under par 69 to lie four shots behind his playing partner and the home favourite, Mardan Mamat of Singapore, the early first round leader.
Mamat fired a sublime seven under par 65 over the Laguna National Golf and Country Club to lead Australian Wade Ormsby and Thailand’s Prayad Marksaeng by two with another Australian, Peter Fowler, a further stroke back.
Dougherty for his part will be hoping the omens are good as he was in a similar position after the first round last year when he went on to win by five. On that occasion he shot an opening 68 while Colin Montgomerie opened with a 65.
“I am one shot worse than last time when Monty was on seven under, this time it is Mardan,” said the 23-year-old. “I am in good shape and it is also good to be playing with someone who is in the lead at the moment.”
Two three putts cost Dougherty as he first bogeyed opening hole, the tenth at Laguna, from distance but it was the dropped shot on the sixth that caused him most angst.
Arguably his best drive of the day was followed by what looked like a perfect pitch but the ball pulled up a foot short of the brow of a hill and tracked all the way back. From there he three putted for a bogey five.
“That was a bit of a momentum change as Mardan hit it left off the tee, got a little lucky to get over the bunker and I three putted after two great shots and all of a sudden I am three behind,” he said. “Overall I’m pleased. I didn’t play very well so it is also encouraging that I managed to score when not playing that great. I had a couple of sloppy three putts, didn’t hit it as well as I would like to, but my course management was great.”
Mamat thrilled the home crowd in the event jointly sanctioned by The European Tour and the Asian Tour with his eight birdies and just the one dropped shot over a course where he won a local Singapore event in January. Taking advantage of local knowledge, helped by the fact that Laguna allowed the local professionals to practice over the course ahead of the tournament, Mamat made an immediate impression with three birdies in the first four holes.
Having picked up another two strokes on the 16th and 17th, he dropped his only shot of the day on the 18th when he drove in the water.
The 38 year old came back strongly with three birdies in is last four holes, including a wonderful birdie three on the ninth from the bunker which runs almost the length of the hole. Faced with a 144 yard shot from sand, Mamat hit a wonderful seven iron to two feet to increase his lead.
“I’m very happy with my performance today,” said Mamat, a winner on the Asian Tour in 2004. “I putted very well today. That’s probably my lowest score round here.”
European Tour Member Ormsby enjoyed a bogey free round, eliminating the mistakes that have cost him dear in recent weeks. Last week, for example, he made more birdies than the winner Simon Dyson but finished way down in 50th place. There were no such errors in the first round in Singapore as the 25 year old from Adelaide took full advantage of the par fives by birdieing three of the four long holes.
“It was a good day and anytime you can keep a bogey off the card is good,” said Ormsby. “This is a course I haven’t done well in the past but it should suit me. I drive it relatively straight and it is right up my alley.”
Marksaeng also enjoyed a bogey free round to match Ormsby’s 67 while Fowler showed that at the age of 46 he can still compete with the youngsters with a flawless 68.
