HANS JAMIL fired a three-under 69 to take the first round lead at the PGM Tour’s Swiss Garden Closed Championships at Damai Laut Golf & Country Club in Lumut, Perak today.
With just one bogey and four birdies on his card – which had him make the turn in 33 – Jamil has a one-stroke lead over S. Murthy and Rashid Ismail on the opening day of the RM160,000 tournament that is making its debut on the local circuit.
Commenting on his performance after coming off the course, Jamil said he was pleased with the way the day went and added it might have been better had he converted a couple of other chances that came his way.
“Overall, I’m happy with the way I played,” he said. “The course played tough on most holes and that’s why the scoring wasn’t too low.”
Murthy, who shot the lowest score over the first nine (his second after starting at No. 10) with a four-under 32, said he too was happy with his overall showing, but lamented at the back nine where he carded a 38.
“I struggled over the back nine, which was my first, but bounced back with a solid four-under over the next nine holes.”
He added: “The course is dry and playing tough, more so with bad kicks.”
In a field of 120-plus, only the top-three players went under, with another three equalled. The latter were Templer Park winner Kemarol Baharin, Iain Steel and Shaaban Hussin, while the Tour’s top-ranked Nicholas Fung, along with Mohamad Azman Basharuddin, P. Gunasagaran and Rahizam Ramli were a shot back on 73. R. Nachimuthu, Kenneth De Silva, Akhmal Tarmizee, Muhammad Alwarith and Solhairy Sharif were two-over for the first day.
