Jack Madden’s first Asian Tour start got off to the perfect start as he rolled in a birdie putt on his opening hole, but it didn’t take long for the Longcross Course at Foxhills to get revenge.
The Dungannon man earned his way into the International Series England event having journeyed to the same venue back in June to compete in a 148-man qualifier with six spots on offer, he has his work cut out to play all four rounds after a four-over 75 sees him in a tie for 118th and four off the provisional cut mark.
After that opening birdie, he bogeyed the next and dropped another on 13 before a double on the par-3 16th saw him make the turn at +3. He’d improve on the front side, but still saw the bogey count outweigh the birdies by two-to-one, but he has nothing to lose in round two and will hope that an earlier tee time and more favourable conditions will give him the chance to see weekend action.
Belgium’s Thomas Pieters and Richard T. Lee from Canada had low expectations at the start of the week but that all changed today when they both shot standout seven-under-par 64s to take the first-round lead.
They are ahead of England’s Richard Bland, Chinese Taipei’s Chan Shih-chang, Korea’s Seungtaek Lee, and Atiruj Winaicharoenchai from Thailand, who fired 66s here on the Longcross Course at Foxhills Club & Resort, in Surrey.
Pieters, who plays for RangeGoats GC on the LIV Golf League, is still searching for the kind of form that saw him triumph on six occasions on the DP World Tour, but it looks like he is not far away after setting the pace with a round made up of an eagle and five birdies, the same as Lee.
“Drove it well and putted really nicely,” said Pieters, whose best finish this year on LIV was joint fifth in Singapore.
“The course kind of suits me; it’s similar to the Belgium Open course where I practice. It’s tight and narrow but if you do hit a lot of drivers you can get close to loads of par fours. You make this course easy when you hit it straight.”
He was four under through five, after he made birdie on the first two holes and eagled the par-five fifth. Three birdies in the last five, including on 18, saw him catch Lee who played in the morning.
He added: “I feel good over the golf ball. I am putting nicely, but I had no expectations this week. I know the area, I am a member across the road at Queenwood, I play a lot of golf around here. So, yes I feel comfortable here.”
Lee fell down the stairs three weeks ago in Korea and has been nursing a sore shoulder since, but he shrugged that off today.
The Canadian had to pull out of International Series Morocco last month because of the injury.
“It’s the right shoulder that hurts,” said Lee, a two-time winner on the Asian Tour, with the most recent coming at the Shinhan Donghae Open in Korea in 2017.
“I have had some good treatment; been working out a little bit; been working on my game. It seems like it is trending in the right way,” he said.
Bland, who has sensationally claimed two Senior Majors on the Champions Tour this season – the Senior PGA Championship and the US Senior Open – looked like he would also finish the day in the lead but made bogey on 15 and 17.
“When the wind gets up it can be difficult, which is what happened,” said the 51-year-old.
“I am happy with the way I played, it’s a good start.”
His compatriot Andy Sullivan from England is next best placed after a 67, along with Thailand’s Sadom Kaewkanjana, Gunn Charoenkul, Nitithorn Thippong, and Pavit Tangkamolprasert, and Sweden’s Kristoffer Broberg, Robert Dinwiddie from England, and China’s Sampson Zheng.
