Kemmer hammers out solid 66

MANILA, Philippines - American Dodge Kemmer fired a six-under-par 66, pulling off a bogey-free round on a day that surprisingly produced a slew of sub-par rounds for a two-shot lead over Thailand’s Pawin Ingkhapradit in the first round of the $300,000 Solaire Open at the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club yesterday.

The 25-year-old Kemmer birdied Nos. 2, 5, 6, 9, 10 and 15 and parred the rest of the holes with some superb recoveries as he led the assault on the dreaded East course that succumbed to 12 under-par scores.

Kemmer’s round on a hot summer day was a big surprise because almost everybody anticipated a tough time.

Yet, Kemmer said things could have been better.

“Obviously I played well. The shots I missed, I was able to recover from, which was due to luck. I hit a couple of drivers which I missed but I made birdies on those holes. That was a gift,” he said.

“There were a couple of putts on the back which could have made this a perfect round but I missed those. Overall, I’m very pleased how my round turned out today.”

With a 66, he’s now looking down at the field of 150 players, and should have all the confidence for today’s round.

“I really like the course so it is always easier to go out and play a good round when you are happy and excited to play the course,” Kemmer added.

Ingkhapradit stood in solo second with a 68 while tied for third with 69s were Taiwanese Lin Wen-tang and Filipino Mars Pucay.

Sharing for fifth with 70s were Australian Matt Jager, Korean Baek Seuk-hyun, Japanese Daisuke Kataoka and Thais Piya Swangarunport and Rattanon Wannasrichan.

Mardam Mamat, winner of the 2012 Philippine Open, looked like a first-timer at Wack Wack. He went home with a four-over 76 with bogeys on Nos. 4, 10 and 12, a birdie on 13 and a double-bogey on the 18th.

But the burly Singaporean managed a smile as he carried his golf bag into the locker room.

“Not good. Four-over but tomorrow will be good,” said Mamat, who found himself in a tie for 77th place and 10 shots behind the leader.

Pucay, out to regain his Asian Tour card, couldn’t get as lucky when he birdied No. 9 from 45 feet and No. 13 from 40 feet, the last one a downhill putt.

Pucay, the best Filipino for the day, also birdied Nos. 12 and 17 but bogeyed the par-four third when he three-putted from 25 feet.

“I’m still very happy going under-par under the tough conditions,” said Pucay.

It wasn’t as windy as most people had expected but still some of the big names struggled. It can’t get any easier than yesterday.

Tied for 10th at 71 were Mo Joong-kyung of Korea, Tetsuji Hiratsuka of Japan and Kwanchai Tannin of Thailand. Next on the leaderboard were 17 players that matched par, including Filipinos Angelo Que, Juvic Pagunsan, Arnold Villacencio and Fil-American Carl Santos-Ocampo.