ON a day of good scoring on a Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club tract that played true, with the top 10 players coming back with a total of 67-under-par after the first round, teenager Mirabel Ting was Malaysia's shining star with an impressive five-under 67.
Nineteen-year-old Mirabel Ting was the toast of the home nation after shooting the impressive score on her debut in the US$3 million Championship. The Florida State athlete had six birdies in her round that included a bogey and 12 pars on her card.
The top amateur player in Malaysia and ranked at eighth in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, Mirabel hit eight fairways of 14 in the first round with an average driving distance of 271 yards. She also hit 14 greens in regulation and 27 putts, with one sand save in one attempt.
Happy with her round, a beaming Mirabel said: "Overall, today was really good. Shooting five-under on such a challenging course is something I never thought I'd be able to do in front of a big crowd.”
"I think I did a good job, especially on the front nine. The back nine was tougher, and I made a couple of mistakes. The putts didn’t drop, and I got a bit impatient, but I managed to birdie Hole 14 and Hole 18 to finish strong. I’m happy with how it turned out.”
The Malaysian Games (SUKMA) champion is now tied in 11th place with 10 other regulars in the LPGA Tour event, including defending champion Celine Boutier of France, last year's runner-up Jeeno Thitikul (THA) of Thailand and China’s world number four Yin Ruoning.
Other Malaysian players failed to follow Mirabel’s feat, include second-timer at the Maybank Championship, Ashley Lau, who was tied 66th with Ireland’s Leona Maguire, and South Koreans Jin Hee Im and Jenny Shin, carding a one over 73.
Ashley, Malaysia’s top-ranked pro, who features on the Epson tour in the United States – the LPGA Tour’s feeder circuit – endured a somewhat difficult opening round and her card had three birdies and four bogeys on it.
Looking back on her round, Ashley said: "I think I'm more confident this year. Just have more experience under my belt, this being my second year. There's definitely less pressure since there is no cut. I just want to go out there, have fun and learn from the LPGA players. And today I had a lot of fun with Lilia (Vu) and Charley (Hull)."
Meanwhile, world number 35, Mao Saigo of Japan took the first round lead after blazing the course with a nine under 63 score for a one stroke advantage against Ryu Hae Ran of South Korea (8 under 64).
Saigo, a rookie in the LPGA Tour, had a superb start by carding 10 birdies (2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11,1 5 and 16th) but haunted by bogey in the par four 17th, while Hae Ran was flawless with birdies in third, fourth, seventh, 11th, 13th, 14th, 17th and 18th.
