PETALING JAYA: Veteran golfer Sukree Othman continued his fiery form by opening with a brilliant five-under 67 at the weather-hit PGM Darulaman Championship.
Riding high from his PGM Perlis Championship triumph three days ago, the 41-year-old settled for a provisional joint second spot with Thailand’s Tawan Phongphun in the RM225,000 tournament at the
Darulaman Golf and Country Club in Jitra yesterday.
Both Sukree and Tawan were four shots behind American Kurt Kitayama, who sank nine birdies on his way to a bogey-free nine-under 63 in the event jointly sanctioned by the Asian Development Tour (ADT) and the PGM Tour.
Sukree, who made six birdies including four in his opening five holes, said he was all fired up after ending a 14-month title drought last Saturday.
“I’m pumped up after winning in Perlis. I’ve played here many times and I know this course inside out,” said Sukree, whose only blemish was par-four third yesterday.
“I’m very confident in my swing and have been practicing hard and working on my fitness.”
Meanwhile, first-day leader Kitayama, who was making his first ADT, admitted of having a tough time coping with the humid conditions.
“I was feeling tired after Singapore (Open) from the heat and weather disruptions,” said Kitayama.
“I got some rest last night and was focused on today’s round. I only played nine holes in the practice round yesterday.”
“It’s so much more humid here compared to the U.S and you’re losing so much fluids throughout the day. I haven’t really adjusted to the conditions.”
Leading first round scores
63: Kurt Kitayama (US);
67: Sukree Othman (Mas), Tawan Phongphun (Tha);
68: John Catlin (US), Nitithorn Thippong (Tha), Itthipat Buranatanyarat (Tha);
69: Poom Pattaropong (Tha), Greg Moss (US), Airil Rizman Zahari (Mas);
70: Johnson Poh (Sin), Kwanchai Tannin (Tha), Maeng Seung-jae (US), Muhd Syakir Adli Azmi (Mas), Shinichi Mizuno (Jpn), Oscar Zetterwall (Swe).
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