Ben Leong
Ben Leong shrugged off an injury scare from playing basketball to emerge as Malaysia’s leading contender in the opening day of the US$2.5 million Maybank Malaysian Open on Thursday.
Leong, winner of the 2008 Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters on the Asian Tour, traded three birdies against a lone bogey for a two-under-par 70 at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club.
Sweden’s Alexander Noren holds the lead with a sizzling 64, with Italian teenager Matteo Manassero two back. India’s Jeev Milkha Singh, a two-time Asian Tour number one, Australian Darren Beck and Stephen Gallacher of Scotland share third place on 67s.
Malaysia’s Danny Chia scrambled to a 71 to be the next best local challenger in the US$2.5 million showpiece, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this week. The Maybank Malaysian Open is jointly sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour.
Seasoned campaigner Iain Steel carded a 72 but local amateur Chan Tuck Soon was flying high, lying at two under through 17 holes when play was suspended for the day at 7.05pm due to lightning. He will return to the course at 8.30am to complete his last hole.
Leong was delighted with his start, especially after hurting his back last week while shooting hoops. “I’m right in there. Three more days to go and I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s round. I don’t have a target for this tournament because I’m struggling with my golf game. I wasn’t well last week and I’m just glad to be competing. I want to try and get back into the groove,” said Leong.
“I played basketball and hurt my back. It wasn’t a smart move but I was fortunate enough to recover to play here. I hit a lot of greens. Tee to green, it was good. Out here you need some luck on the greens and I’m satisfied with what I shot.
“A 70 in any tournament is always a good score,” he added.
Chia fired five birdies but errant driving saw him drop four shots. “I’m quite pleased with my round because I wasn’t hitting it good, I only hit six fairways,” said Chia, Malaysia’s first winner on the Asian Tour when he won the 2002 Taiwan Open.
“I had good recovery shots and I am happy with my putting. My driving let me down. I was hitting them too hard. I tried to go with big drives on the par fives and ended up making bogeys.
“I’m going to try and be patient. One-under looks far away but hopefully I can inch my way to the top in the next few days. There’s nothing much I could do about my score because I was hitting it badly. Hopefully I can do better tomorrow.”
