Aussies poised to dominate Open anew
By taking four of the top eight spots after Day One of the Philippine Open, Gavin Flint (67), Ashley Hall (68), Michael Wright (69) and Brad Kennedy (71) have put
Sure, one fine round doesn’t mean that much in a top-level tournament like the Open with players so close to each other and a course that varies in character and could shatter one’s title aspirations in a rush.
But the way
“It is a tricky course as anything can go wrong very fast here. But I managed my game well and I hope to keep it up,” said Flint, who won his first and only title in the 2005 South Wales PGA one year after he turned pro.
He stood in joint second behind surprise leader Kodai Ichihara of
On his second year on the Asian Tour, Gavin showed his mettle with two top 10s and four top 20s to finish 30th in last year’s Asian Tour Order of Merit race.
“I am excited to be where I am so we’ll see what happens tomorrow (today). I had a slow start to the season but I made the putts today compared to other weeks which was the main difference for me,” said
Hall, meanwhile, turned in the lone bogey-free round in a punishing day at Wack Wack’s east course, an uphill birdie putt from 25 feet out that went straight into the cup on No. 2 boosted his confidence early.
“That birdie somewhat fired me up,” said 6-4 Hall, who used to play basketball but shifted to golf when he started to sustain injuries in his college years in
Hall made his debut on the Asian Tour last year, registering one top-five at the Mercuries Taiwan Masters and posting three other top-25s en route to finishing 75th on the Order of Merit. – Dante Navarro
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