Patrick Reed’s affinity for the Greater Bay Area was evident once more today after he shot a majestic seven-under-par 63 to take the first-round lead in the International Series Macau presented by Wynn.
Four months ago the American claimed the Link Hong Kong Open, helped by a spectacular 59 on the third day, and he was unstoppable again today, overcoming Macau Golf and Country Club with seven birdies and no bogeys.
He leads the US$2million event, which is part of The International Series on the Asian Tour, from Filipino Miguel Tabuena, Peter Uihlein from the United States, and Finland’s Kalle Samooja, who carded 64s.
Reed, who finished fourth here last year, birdied 16 and 18 to edge ahead later in the day. Uihlein had eagled the par-five 18th moments earlier while Tabuena led for most of the day having started at 7am.
“It was a steady day,” said Reed, a member of 4Aces GC on the LIV Golf League.
“I wasn’t feeling that great when I first got up. Mainly my body was a little tight, but it loosened up nicely on the range.
“You know, got off to good a start. Was hitting my golf ball how I wanted to. Was hitting pretty solid. I was kind of getting it out in front of me where I wanted, where I was looking, and I was leaving myself in the right spot. So, I felt like that was the biggest thing today.”
He made a birdie on the fourth and then made three in a row from the sixth, before another came on 13. On the last his 20 footer for an eagle just finished short.
He added: “These greens got kind of really fast, and with some of those pin locations there on the back nine, you had to put the ball in the right spot, because it’s hard to putt from above the hole. And I was able to do a nice job on that. Hit a couple close and, you know, kind of had a stress free seven-under par today.”
Tabuena shook off the effects of a 3.45am wake-up call and an uncharacteristic missed one-foot putt on his first hole to set the bar early on.
The Filipino, who made eight birdies against two bogeys, said: “Woke up at 3.45, got in the gym at 4.10. Did some stretching; did some activation stuff, yeah, but it’s routine. The game feels really good except for my three putt on the first hole, which was number 10. Missed it from a foot. So that was pretty funny. I just laughed it out.”
He rallied and made the turn in two under, with four birdies and two bogeys, before finding his rhythm on the second half with birdies on three, four, seven and eight.
“My game’s in a good spot, but it’s still very early in the tournament. There’s three more days, and hopefully I can continue this form,” he said.
“It is about playing the par fives well here. If you score on the par fires, I think you’ll do well. And you must understand where the wind is blowing, because it’s really bouncing around the mountains here, especially in the morning. I took advantage because it was pretty calm this morning.”
He is looking for his first win on the Asian Tour since The DGC Open presented by Mastercard in 2023. He’s had seven top fives since then so a win may well be just around the corner.
Uihlein, who won twice on the Asian Tour last year at International Series events in England and Qatar, struck a six-iron from well over 200 yards on the 18th to a matter of inches from the cup. Samooja also made a three there.
“Played super well, despite coming off a slight strain on my hand since last week. It helped by resting it,” said the American.
“I am just very relaxed out here, trying to enjoy it and we’ll see where that takes us.”
Spain’s Sergio Garcia, winner of LIV Golf Hong Kong two weeks ago, fired a 65 and is in a group of seven players next best placed.
Defending champion John Catlin from the United States, returned a disappointing 72 but did will to recover as he was four over after five.
American Ollie Schniederjans, who leads both the Asian Tour Order of Merit and The International Series Rankings, was forced to withdraw due to a muscle strain.
Scores after round 1 of the International Series Macau presented by Wynn – being played at Macau Golf and Country Club, a par 70, 6,713-yard course (am – denotes amateur):
63 – Patrick Reed (USA).
64 – Miguel Tabuena (PHI), Peter Uihlein (USA), Kalle Samooja (FIN).
65 – Dominic Foos (GER), Sebastian Munoz (COL), Travis Smyth (AUS), Junggon Hwang (KOR), Lucas Herbert (AUS), Sergio Garcia (ESP), Yosuke Asaji (JPN).
66 – Nick Voke (NZL), Kieran Vincent (ZIM), Wu Ashun (CHN), Stefano Mazzoli (ITA), Jed Morgan (AUS), Daihan Lee (KOR), Adrian Meronk (POL), Christopher Hickman (USA), Chonlatit Chuenboonngam (THA), Kelvin Si (MAC).
67 – Sanghee Lee (KOR), Jazz Janewattananond (THA), Sihwan Kim (USA), Carlos Ortiz (MEX), Jack Thompson (AUS), Kevin Yuan (AUS), Yubin Jang (KOR), Richard T. Lee (CAN), Anirban Lahiri (IND), Todd Sinnott (AUS), Taichi Kho (HKG), Abraham Ancer (MEX), Charlie Lindh (SWE).
68 – Denzel Ieremia (NZL), Ratchanon Chantananuwat (am, THA), Chase Koepka (USA), Maximilian Rottluff (GER), Seungsu Han (USA), Jbe Kruger (RSA), Bio Kim (KOR), David Horsey (ENG), Soomin Lee (KOR), Tomoyo Ikemura (JPN), Justin Quiban (PHI), Jason Kokrak (USA), Santiago De la Fuente (MEX), Wooyoung Cho (KOR), Varanyu Rattanaphiboonkij (THA), Tanapat Pichaikool (THA).
69 – Shiv Kapur (IND), Nitithorn Thippong (THA), Andy Ogletree (USA), Gunn Charoenkul (THA), Chapchai Nirat (THA), S.S.P. Chawrasia (IND), Brett Rankin (AUS), Manav Shah (USA), Joel Stalter (FRA), Bobby Bai (CHN), Poosit Supupramai (THA), Suteepat Prateeptienchai (THA), Ekpharit Wu (THA), Pawin Ingkhapradit (THA), Doyeob Mun (KOR), David Puig (ESP), Wang Wei-hsuan (TPE), Atiruj Winaicharoenchai (THA), Hongtaek Kim (KOR), Yuvraj Sandhu (IND), Chen Guxin (CHN), Sampson Zheng (CHN).
70 – Tatsunori Shogenji (JPN), Matthew Cheung (HKG), Matt Jones (AUS), Kosuke Hamamoto (THA), Kazuki Higa (JPN), Gaganjeet Bhullar (IND), Changwoo Lee (KOR), Austen Truslow (USA), Jeev Milkha Singh (IND), Poom Saksansin (THA), Xiao Bowen (CHN), Jose Toledo (GTM), Steve Lewton (ENG), Sadom Kaewkanjana (THA), Pavit Tangkamolprasert (THA), Scott Hend (AUS), Ollie Roberts (SCO), Jakkanat Inmee (THA).
71 – Dodge Kemmer (USA), Lu Wei-chih (TPE), Itthipat Buranatanyarat (THA), Hiroshi Iwata (JPN), Jeunghun Wang (KOR), Maverick Antcliff (AUS), Chang Wei-lun (TPE), Charng-Tai Sudsom (THA), Chan Shih-chang (TPE), Takumi Murakami (JPN), Julien Sale (FRA), Luis Masaveu (ESP), Berry Henson (USA), Bjorn Hellgren (SWE), Scott Vincent (ZIM), Junghwan Lee (KOR), Garam Jeon (KOR), Eunshin Park (KOR), Liu Yanwei (CHN), Settee Prakongvech (THA).
72 – Zhang Xinjun (CHN), Luke Kwon (KOR), George Kneiser (USA), M.J. Maguire (USA), Caleb Surratt (USA), Taehoon Ok (KOR), Ian Snyman (RSA), James Piot (USA), Chanmin Jung (KOR), Danthai Boonma (THA), Liu Yung-hua (TPE), Ervin Chang (MAS), Kyungnam Kang (KOR), Graeme McDowell (NIR), John Catlin (USA), Hung Chien-yao (TPE), Angelo Que (PHI), David Boriboonsub (THA), Micah Shin (USA), Roberto Lebrija (MEX).
73 – Taiki Yoshida (JPN), Eduard Rousaud (ESP), Anthony Kim (USA), Wade Ormsby (AUS), Liang Wenchong (CHN).
74 – Aaron Wilkin (AUS), Pui In Hun (MAC), Rahil Gangjee (IND), Mingyu Cho (KOR), Ye Wocheng (CHN).
75 – Rattanon Wannasrichan (THA), Yeongsu Kim (KOR), Prom Meesawat (THA), Lawry Flynn (AUS), Witchayapat Sinsrang (THA).
76 – Lei Kun Wang (am, MAC), Ajeetesh Sandhu (IND).
77 – Khalid Attieh (KSA), Yuta Sugiura (JPN).
The Asian Tour is the official sanctioning body for professional golf in the region and is a member of the International Federation of PGA Tours. The Tour is an affiliate of The R&A and all sanctioned events qualify for Official World Golf Ranking points.
The Tour, which was launched in 2004, is responsible for looking after the best interests of over 350 members, representing 35 countries managing a year-long schedule of events across five continents.
In 2022, The International Series was created – thanks to an exciting new partnership with LIV Golf – which saw the introduction of 10 elevated events to the Asian Tour schedule that provide a pathway to the LIV Golf League.
The Tour controls its television production and distribution through Asian Tour Media (a joint venture with IMG) which delivers live coverage to more than one billion households worldwide.
The Tour also operates the Asian Development Tour providing a pathway for the leading players to the Asian Tour.
The Asian Tour eco-system also includes the Qualifying School which attracts over 650 entrants vying for 35 cards on the Asian Tour for the following season.
In 2018, it set up Asian Tour Destinations – an affiliate network with exclusive, world-class golfing venues across the region.
The Tour is headquartered on Sentosa Island in Singapore, home to the award winning Sentosa Golf Club – a member of Asian Tour Destinations.
