Scott Jamieson trails first round leader Panuphol Pittayarat by one stroke at The Championship at Laguna National following an eight under par 64.
The Scot, chasing a second European Tour title, posted nine birdies in Singapore but a bogey on the 16th hole – his seventh after starting on the tenth tee – cost him a share of the lead, with Thailand’s Pittayarat carding a blemish-free 63.
Jamieson is joined in second place at Laguna National Golf & Country Club by American David Lipsky, Korea’s Byung-jun Kim and Singapore’s Quincy Quek.
Sweden’s Kristoffer Broberg and Chilean Filipe Aguilar are a further shot back on seven under par alongside Sri Lanka’s Mithun Perera and Thailand’s Arnond Vongvanij, who had been tied for the lead until a double bogey five on the eight meant he slipped back into a tie for sixth.
Alexander Levy, winner of last week’s Volvo China Open and the European Tour Golfer of the Month for April, recovered from a triple bogey seven on his fourth hole to post a two under par 70.
A delay to tee times of one hour due to lightning on Thursday morning meant the first round will be completed on Friday morning, with 18 players still to sign their cards.
Key player quotes:
Panuphol Pittayarat: “It was a good day out there. The weather is good and I holed a lot of putts. I gave myself a lot of chances to score. I am very happy with how I played today. I didn’t see it coming, but it did come. I’m feeling good about my game right now. I was just trying to hit it straight out there. I managed to hole a lot of putts and a lot of them were unexpected.”
Scott Jamieson: “I’ve been hitting the ball well the last couple of weeks so it was nice to get a round where it all came together. There was just the one mistake with the three putt on 16 but it was pretty far away and pace putting is always difficult in Asia with the grain. It’s not what someone from Scotland is used to. But it was a great start.”
“It’s always a possibility that you might not complete 72 holes so a fast start is important. So I’m grateful for that today.”
Leading clubhouse round one scores
63 P Pittayarat (THA)
64 S Jamieson (SCO), D Lipsky (USA), BJ Kim (KOR), Q Quek (SIN),
65 M Perera (SRI), K Broberg (SWE), F Aguilar (CHI), A Vongvanij (THA),
66 R Cabrera-Bello (ESP), P Meesawat (THA), SH Baek (KOR), S Barr (AUS), KJ Moon (Korea), G Bourdy (FRA)
– Ends –
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