Thai talent Poom Saksansin took advantage of his solid iron-play to sign for an opening eight-under-par 63, grabbing a one-shot lead over countryman Jazz Janewattananond at the Queen’s Cup presented by Bangchak on Thursday.
Poom, a two-time Asian Tour winner, nailed eight birdies before dropping a shot on 17 for his only blemish of the day. The 25-year-old Thai, however, recovered swiftly with a birdie on the last to take his place atop the leaderboard at the Phoenix Gold Golf and Country Club.
Jazz, who will be making his Major debut at The Open next month, returned with a bogey-free round highlighted by seven birdies to sit in second place at the US$300,000 event, which is celebrating its 10th straight edition on the region’s premier Tour this week.
Siddikur Rahman of Bangladesh, who was flawless with six birdies, shared third place with American Paul Peterson and Danthai Boonma of Thailand on matching 65s. Peterson came home with four straight birdies while Danthai got off to a birdie-eagle start en route to their 65s.
Jbe Kruger of South Africa recorded the first hole-in-one of the week when he aced the par-three 16th hole with a gap wedge from 145 yards. He trails by three shots in tied-sixth place following a 66.
Defending champion Nicholas Fung of Malaysia posted a 72 to tie in 103rd place at the Queen’s Cup, which welcomed a new presenting sponsor in Bangchak Corporation, one of Thailand’s leading energy companies, this season.
Did you know?
- Poom Saksansin is a two-time winner on the Asian Tour. He produced a five-shot victory at the 2016 Indonesian Masters to win his first Asian Tour title and completed a convincing wire-to-wire victory at the 2017 TAKE Solutions Masters where he won by two shots.
- Poom led the 2014 Queen’s Cup into the final round before finishing second behind Thaworn Wiratchant.
- He finished in a career-high eighth position on the 2017 Merit rankings and earned a maiden appearance at the 2018 EurAsiaCup where he represented Team Asia.
- Poom, together with Sunghoon Kang, defeated Henrik Stenson and Alex Levy in the first day four-ball match 5&4. Also beat Paul Casey 1 up on the final day Singles match.
- Poom sits in 29th place on the Asian Tour Habitat for Humanity Standings, thanks to two top-10s, which included a runner-up finish at the Thailand Open earlier this month.
- Jazz missed only two fairways and three greens in his flawless round of 64 today.
- Jazz will be making his Major debut at The Open at Carnoustie next month. He earned the coveted spot after finishing tied-fourth at the season-opening SMBC Singapore Open, which was part of The Open Qualifying Series.
- Jazz missed only one cut in 10 starts on Tour to sit in a current 16th place on the 2018 Asian Tour Habitat for Humanity Standings.
- He came in runner-up at the Queen’s Cup last year, finishing just one shot back of winner Nicholas Fung of Malaysia.
- Jazz won his first Asian Tour title at the 2017 Bangladesh Open by four shots. The victory was especially sweet for him as he finished outside the top-60 on the 2016 Order of Merit and missed the grade at the 2017 Qualifying School. He went on to notch five other top-10s to finish a career-high 13th place on the Order of Merit.
- Siddikur Rahman is a two-time Asian Tour winner. Became the first Bangladeshi to win on the Asian Tour in 2010.
- Siddikur needed only 21 putts for his commendable round of 65.
- Siddikur has recorded five top-10 results in his last eight appearances at the Queen’s Cup, albeit on a different golf course.
- Like Jazz, Danthai will also be making his Major debut at The Open at Carnoustie next month. He also secured his spot after finishing tied-fourth in Singapore in January.
- Danthai has enjoyed some good results at the Phoenix Gold Golf and Country Club. He finished tied-third at the King’s Cup in 2016 and came in tied-eighth at the Royal Cup last December.
- The 22-year-old Danthai secured his Asian Tour breakthrough at the World Classic Championship in Singapore in 2015.
- Paul Peterson claimed his breakthrough win on the Asian Tour at the Myanmar Open earlier in January.
- The left-handed Peterson came in tied-third at the Queen’s Cup in 2016 before going on to win his first European Tour title at the Czech Masters two months later.
- The 29-year-old Peterson sits in eighth place on the current Asian Tour Habitat for Humanity Standings.
Players’ quotes:
Poom Saksansin (Tha) – First Round 63 (-8)
I hit very good approach shots today. My mid-irons and short irons were very good. I got a bit of luck with my putting as well. The highlight of my round today was on the 12th hole. I almost made an eagle there but my putt lipped out.
I am very happy with the way I played today. I wasn’t thinking much. I just stuck to my game plan and kept the momentum going. The game’s feeling much better now. I am feeling more confident after finishing second at the Thailand Open earlier.
I guess my mental game has improved a lot and that’s why I am playing good again. This is a course that I practise a lot on so I am very familiar with it. It’s a very short course. You need to drive the ball well and hit good iron shots to play well here. This is the lowest score that I have ever shot on this course.
Jazz Janewattananond (Tha) – First Round 64 (-7)
I got off to a good start. Everything was pretty smooth for me out there. I was just hitting a lot of fairways and a lot of greens, made some putts and missed some. It was overall a pretty good round.
I was playing with no pressure. I guess that helps. It’s still early in the week. I am not thinking much. It’s going to be a hot week here. I was just trying to save my energy. It was pretty windy when we start so it was a little tough.
Siddikur Rahman (Ban) – First Round 65 (-6)
I haven’t had a bogey-free round for a long time. I had an excellent day out there. My putting was really good and that’s the reason why I can put up such a low score today. Everything went well today except for the 18th hole where I hit a bad drive.
But I made a great up and down from the bunker for birdie there. It was about 25 yards from the bunker but I made that. My back was really sore yesterday. I went for treatment at the physio yesterday after my practice round and also this morning before my round.
It was much better today. It felt totally different out there. I was able to swing my best today and it was great. I made most of my birdies from within 10 to 15 feet today. I started from the 10th hole today and got off to a great start with two straight birdies.
It feels good coming to play at the Queen’s Cup, although it’s being held at a different venue this year. I have had some good results at the Queen’s Cup before so I just feel a lot of positive vibes coming to play this tournament.
This course suits my game too as it’s not too long. I like this golf course. I am feeling very excited now and I am looking forward to the rest of the season. The season hasn’t been that good so far. It’s been on and off.
My game is there but I just can’t show in my results. But having said that, there are still many more tournaments to go so I am not too worried about my performance. This is a really short course. You need to putt well. Everyone is going to hit it close out there.
Danthai Boonma (Tha) – First Round 65 (-6)
I had a really good start today. I made the birdie putt from about seven feet on the first and that got my momentum going. I think I was a bit lucky with my eagle on the second hole. I hit the green in two and sank the eagle putt from about 20 feet!
I felt good after the strong start. I played really well after that. I putted very well. My tee shots were good too. I like this golf course. I finished inside top-10 the last two times we played here. Although we’re playing a different back nine this week, I still feel very comfortable out there.
Paul Peterson (Usa) – First Round 65 (-6)
It was nice not to drop a shot today. I switched back to my old driver and I am really happy with it. It was the same one I used when I won Myanmar earlier. It just got me into a very good rhythm out there and to finish six-under.
I made a nice up and down on the 12th hole and hit some quality shots and made some putts coming in. I had the wind a little bit wrong on the 12th. I was trying to be short on that hole and picked a club that I thought was very short but it just flew the green.
I chipped it to about three feet and made the putt. It was a very good par save there and it just got my momentum going. My groupmates were hitting some good shots coming down the stretch so we were just feeding off each other.
I hit a really good three-wood in on the seventh hole to about eight feet. It was awesome. I didn’t convert the eagle putt unfortunately but it was good to hit it about 250 yards. I felt like the birdie on ninth kind of jumpstarted the round and I was able to finish off strong.
Scores after round 1 of the Queen’s Cup presented by Bangchak being played at the par 71, 6951 Yards Phoenix GC course (am – denotes amateur):
63 – Poom SAKSANSIN (THA).
64 – Jazz JANEWATTANANOND (THA).
65 – Siddikur RAHMAN (BAN), Danthai BOONMA (THA), Paul PETERSON (USA).
66 – Miguel CARBALLO (ARG), Dino A. GIACOMAZZI (USA), Sihwan KIM (USA), Jbe KRUGER (RSA), Scott VINCENT (ZIM), Natipong SRITHONG (THA).
67 – Sattaya SUPUPRAMAI (THA), Wongsakorn PIKUNSAWAT (THA), Thanyakon KHRONGPHA (THA), Thitiphun CHUAYPRAKONG (THA), Kittiporn JAVANAPONG (THA), Wolmer MURILLO (VEN), Ronnachai JAMNONG (THA), Ben CAMPBELL (NZL), Miguel TABUENA (PHI), Pavit TANGKAMOLPRASERT (THA), Thammanoon SRIROJ (THA), William HARROLD (ENG), Pasavee LERTVILAI (THA).
68 – Poosit SUPUPRAMAI (THA), Hamza AMIN (PAK), Kammalas NAMUANGRUK (THA), Thepbodin AMARANAN (THA), Javier GALLEGOS (ESP), Naras LUANGPHETCHARAPORN (THA), Raththee SIRITHANAKUNSAK (THA), Paul HARRIS (USA), Sarit SUWANNARUT (THA), Settee PRAKONGVECH (THA), WANG Wei-lun (TPE), Nirun SAE-UENG (THA), Jarin TODD (USA), Gareth PADDISON (NZL), Gaganjeet BHULLAR (IND), Casey O’TOOLE (USA), Josh YOUNGER (AUS), Kevin LEE (KOR), Sung LEE (KOR), Tanapat PICHAIKOOL (am, THA).
69 – Rattanon WANNASRICHAN (THA), LIU Yanwei (CHN), Tirawat KAEWSIRIBANDIT (THA), Javi COLOMO (ESP), Rashid KHAN (IND), Viraj MADAPPA (IND), Atiruj WINAICHAROENCHAI (THA), John Michael O’TOOLE (USA), Tawan PHONGPHUN (THA), Hein SITHU (MYN), Pannakorn UTHAIPAS (THA), Malcolm KOKOCINSKI (SWE), Arnond VONGVANIJ (THA), Khalin JOSHI (IND), Panuphol PITTAYARAT (THA), Piya SWANGARUNPORN (THA), Chaiphat KOONMARK (THA).
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