Melaka, Malaysia, May 8 - S. Murthy equaled his career best low round on the first day of the PGM-ASEAN PGA A’Famosa Masters at A’Famosa Golf Resort in Alor Gajah, Melaka today.Murthy, who has shown some good form this season, fired a bogey-free nine-under-par 63 to carve out a four-stroke lead at the top of the leaderboard in the event co-sanctioned with the ASEAN PGA Tour.
The Malaysian left Thailand’s Philip Matsson (67) to settle for second place, while fellow Malaysians Khor Kheng Hwai and Nicholas Pua were joint third with rounds of 68.
Singaporean Mardan Mamat, along with Malaysia’s Mohd Sukree Othman, Mohd Rizal Amin and Airil Rizman were tied for fifth on 69.
Indonesians Adi Bramantyo and Kurnia Herisyandi both carded a 4-over 76 for a tie of 53rd.
Murthy, who was right in the mix going into the last round of this year’s Maybank Malaysian Open before fading away, attributed his recent run good run to a number of factors, but in the main – hard work.
“I’ve been working hard even during the off-season,” he said. “And I’ve made a few changes to my swing and equipment. I believe that this has all been part of why I am striking the ball so much better and putting with more confidence.”
A seasoned campaigner on the local front, Murthy said his new Srixon Z72 irons were crucial to this, as was a new Odyssey putter.
“I hit 17 greens today and made 26 putts,” added Murthy. “That tells me that my iron play was on the mark and I putted very well too.”
Without trying to get ahead of himself, Murthy added that he planned to take the tournament “day by day” and see how it all turns out on Saturday.
Leading First Round Scores (Malaysian unless stated otherwise):
63 - MURTHY, S.
67 - MATSSON, Philip (THA)
68 - PUA, Nicholas, KHOR, Kheng Hwai,
69 - MAMAT, Mardan (SIN), OTHMAN, Mohd Sukree, RIZMAN, Airil, AMIN, Mohd Rizal
70 - RAMLI, Rahizam, MUDA, Shaifubari, DE SILVA, Kenneth
Selected:
76 - BRAMANTYO, Adi (INA), HERISHANDY, Kurnia (INA)
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