Airil and Darren surge to a two-stroke lead in Terengganu

PETALING JAYA: Local boy Airil Rizman rediscovered some of his old magic at the Awana Kijal Golf & Beach Resort to card a six-under 65 for a share of the lead with Australia’s Darren Tan in the first round of the PGM Terengganu Masters.

The duo fired eight birdies against two bogeys to hold a two-shot lead over the rest of the field at the RM200,000 Asian Development Tour (ADT) event yesterday.

Indonesia’s George Gandranata, Australian Nabil Abdul and local amateur Adam Muda carded four-under 67s to share third place.

Australian Scott Barr and Malaysians Rizal Amin and S. Siva Chandhran signed for identical three-under 68 to be tied for sixth.

Airil, who clinched his maiden Asian Tour title in 2007, hopes to continue playing the same way in the next three rounds.

“The golf course is a lot better than last year. I think it has improved a lot. My iron play was great today and I made a few putts,” said Airil, 35.

“I’m happy with how I played today. I will try my best to score as low as possible in the next few rounds.”

But Airil will have to be wary of the threat posed by Darren, who is gunning for a breakthrough win on the ADT after a string of good finishes this year at the Ballantine’s Taiwan Championship (tied eight), ICTSI Mount Malarayat Classic (tied fifth) and Jakarta Classic (third).

“I played really solid today. I’m happy with my current form. I finished well in the last few tournaments and that kind of boosted my confidence a bit. I hope to maintain my good form and play better tomorrow,” said the Australian.

Malaysian ace Nicholas Fung and compatriot Iain Steel will have to play catch up today after posting matching scores of 70 to share 19th position while ADT Order of Merit leader James Bowen of the United States shot a 72 to end day one in 39th spot.