Darren Clarke and fellow Major Champion Charles Schwartzel kick-started their appearance in the Nanshan China Masters with respective rounds of 72 and 71 in windy conditions at Shandong.
American Eric Mina, who topped the One Asia Tour School, heads the field on the Montgomerie designed course posting a four under par 68 and one shot clear of three players including New Zealand lefty Gareth Paddison.
One Asia Tour rookie shoots a 68 to lead after day one of 2013 China Masters. (Photo – www.oneasiatour.com)
Play was suspended because of bad light with 14 golfers still to finish, but strong winds around the links-style Montgomerie Course at Nanshan International Golf Club played havoc with the scoring and only 14 players were under par.
Clarke had two birdies, at the 10th and 11th holes, but also bogeys at three and 13.
“The leaders obviously played well and rolled the ball well,” the Northern Irishman said.
“I was surprised coming up the last to see those scores. That’s a great effort. Fair play to them.
“It was tricky out there today … the wind was pumping on a few holes. Some of the par fours played exceptionally long due to the wind and there’s not much run out there, so I’m pretty pleased with level par.”
Local favourite Liang Wenchong spoke on the eve of the event about how he was looking forward to defending his title.
“I’m definitely looking forward to playing with such great champions — especially if we get the chance to play together in the same flight,” said Liang, who is ranked 155 in the world.
“In my experience of partnering big players like this, the key is their ability to regulate themselves and get it up-and-down even if they aren’t familiar with the course. That is what I will try to do.”
Yang, who won the 2009 PGA Championships to become the first Major winner from Asia, will also be hoping to overcome the heartbreak of his sudden-death loss last year.
The 2012 Nanshan China Masters was a breakthrough event for many local players, with a record 19 mainlanders making the cut — more than any other international event held in the country, according to organisers.
A number of Chinese youngsters are making their names in the world of golf, with Guan Tianlang making the cut at the US Masters in April aged just 14, and Andy Zhang becoming the youngest-ever player at the US Open when he qualified at the same age last year.
Clarke, of Northern Ireland, said he expected to see more products of China’s golf boom in the near future.
“There has been a quite remarkable change for the good in China and I expect this to continue and accelerate in the immediate future,” Clarke said.
“It won’t be that long before a Chinese player is competing regularly at the top end.”
Australia’s Andre Stolz, who was the OneAsia Order of Merit champion in 2011, a year after Liang, will also be at the Nanshan China Masters, along with OneAsia’s two other previous Order of Merit winners — Scott Strange, also from Australia, (2009) and Kim Bi-o of South Korea (2012).
