DJ Makes His Manila Debut Reeling-In Nine Birdies

9 hours ago by 0

Former World No. 1 and double major winner Dustin Johnson highlighted his Manila debut posting nine birdies on the opening day of the International Series Philippines.

‘DJ’ is among three past Masters champions competing in the $US 2m Asian Tour event and also including fellow Patrick Reed and Charl Schwartzel and fans really taking to the Augusta National victory hereos competing on the host Sta Elnea course just to the south of the capital, Manila.

However, Johnson’s round was somewhat soured in posting a sixth hole double-bogey (15th hole on his scorecard) and having been three-under at the time in starting his round from the 10th hole.

DJ regrouped to birdie his seventh (16th), 11th (2nd), 12th (3rd) and 14th (5th) holes before the set-back with back-to-back bogeys at his 15th and 16th holes (6th and 7th) ahead of making ammends with birdies at his 17th and 18th holes (8th and 9th) for his round of a 5-under 67.

The effort handed the LIV Golf star a share of seventh place and seven shots adrift of Thailand’s Sarit Suwannarut leads the way in posting an eight-under 64 and one clear of the field.

Johnson said he enjoyed his first professional round in the Philippines.

“It was a good atmosphere and Miguel (Tabuena) is a really nice player and it was a lot of fun to play with him and Louis (Oosthuizen) today. We all played pretty well, it was a good atmosphere, and we made a lot of birdies,” said Johnson.

“I played well. If any day, any time you make nine birdies, you know you hit a lot of really good shots. I had a lot of good looks at birdie and hit just one bad drive on the 15th and ended up making a double. Obviously, still in a good position going into tomorrow and the rest of the week.”

Sarit – fourth in SJM Macao Open, tied 11th in the Jakarta International Championship and tied ninth in Mercuries Taiwan Masters in his previous three starts on the Asian Tour – started on the back nine and made four birdies on his way out, and added five more on his back nine.

“It was perfect. I’ve been playing pretty good. I mean, before a round, I know I can share the ball number with my caddie and hit the shots. I tell myself, you can hit it, you can do it,” said Sarit.

“I’d say a couple of things have happened. I changed the putter in Korea and it started working pretty good, and then I also changed my coach. I have been working on my swing, and the changes are becoming pretty good.”

Fellow Masters champ Reed signed for a two-under 70 while Schwartzel a round of 71 while Open Champ Louis Oosthuizen also a 71.

A two-time winner of International Series titles, Sarit knows a thing or two about winning on the big stage.

“I just want to play good golf. I am excited to play with a lot of good players like Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, and a lot of the guys from LIV Golf. So, just excited to play well,” said Sarit, who is currently ranked 25th in the Asian Tour Order of Merit and 52nd in The International Series Ranking.

  • With thanks Asian Tour.


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