Kota Kinabalu: Ervin Chang fired a sizzling five-under 67 in the opening round of the Hilux Cup Golf Tournament at Sabah Golf and Country Club on Tuesday.
He bagged seven birdies and had two bogeys to take a slim one shot lead over local favourite Ben Leong who returned with six birdies and two bogeys.
The 24-year-old said it was a thrill playing against Ben and Shahriffuddin Ariffin in the marquee group. “The weather wasn’t too kind and it hardened the greens. It wasn’t the start I wanted but I’m glad I stayed focused and finished my round well,” he said.
SPONSORED CONTENT Firefly’s inaugural flight to Sandakan SANDAKAN: Firefly, the low-cost carrier subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines; made its inaugural flight from Kota Kinabalu to Sandakan on Tuesday. Read more Ben in his debut appearance at the tour was also happy with his outing and said: “I’m only one stroke behind Ervin so I’m comfortable where I am, but there’s still plenty of golf ahead.”
Meanwhile, in third place and one shot behind was Wafiyuddin Manaf followed by Galven Green in 70.
Aretha Pan, who is one of the three ladies competing against the men, finished her round in joint fifth with Ryan Fernandez and Shahriffuddin on one-under.
The other two are Vivienne Chin (+4) and amateur Charlayne Chong (+8), who had the only eagle of the day at the Par 4 eighth, while the Sabah Amateur Open champion Nasrullah Zulkifli is the leading amateur at one-over. Leading scores
67 Ervin Chang (32-25); 68 Ben Leong (33-35); 69 Wafiyuddin Manaf (35-34); 70 Galven Green (37-33); 71 Aretha Pan (32-29), Shahriffuddin Ariffin (34-37), Ryan Fernandez (34-37); 72 Wilson Choo (37-35); Nicholas Fung (39-33); 73 Nasrullah Zulkifli (A) (36-37); 74 R Nachimuthu (37-37); Daeng Abdul Rahman (39-35); Brandon Lau (39-35); Azry Asyraf (38-36); Paul San (39-35).
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