Thai teenager Witchayanon Chothirunrungrueng flashed a glimpse of his precocious talent, opening with a tidy two-under 70 to lie just one shot off the pace going into the penultimate round of the inaugural Mountain Creek Open by Golf Citizen on Tuesday.
Playing in his first MENA Golf Tour event, the 19-year-old amateur, and affectionately known to his fellow golfers as ‘Zoom’, raced to three-under after his first five holes and picked up another shot on the 12th, but back-to-back bogeys from the 10th prevented him from joining Spain’s Sixto Casabona-Navarro at the top of the leaderboard.
‘Zoom’ finished the day tied for second in a five-man group which included his fellow Thai Changtai Sudsom, Daniel Owen and Lee Corfield, both of England, and Manish Goyal of India. The Thai prodigy, however, was a good six shots clear of India’s Rayhan in the amateur division.
Casabona-Navarro mixed five birdies, including three on the front nine,
Witchayanon ‘Zoom’ Chothirunrungrueng.
to hit the front with a 69 on a sunny day when Sweden’s Kalle Nilsson produced the highlight of Round One, acing the par-3, 12th with an eight-iron from 170 yards for his first hole-in-one of his career en route to a 79.
“My tee-to-green game was pretty solid and I putted equally well which kind of set the tone for the day,” said abona-navarro, adding: “Every part of my game fell into place, which was good.
“We still have two more rounds to play and if I can keep the momentum going, I think I can post a strong finish, if not a victory,” said the 27-year-old from Vallencia.
SIixto Casabona – Navarro records a first career ace on route to taking the lead on day one with a three under par 69.
England’s Owen, who finished in a tie for fourth at last week’s Ras Al Khaimah, picked up where he left off, firing three birdies in his last five holes to stay in contention.
“For me any under par score on this course is pretty much job done. Played really well and created some good scoring opportunity, especially on the back nine. Happy with the way I finished the round,” said the 26-year-old Bahrain-based Englishman.
India’s Goyal combined good ball striking with solid putting to string together a neat round while Thailand’s Sudsom offset four bogeys with six birdies for a share of second.
“I struck hit the ball very ball and didn’t miss many fairways, but it was my putting that held the round together well. It’s fun playing on this course, said Goyal, a regular on the MENA Golf Tour.
Fredrik Lindblom of Sweden and Venezuela’s Wolmer Murillo were tied for seventh a further shot adrift at one under, one clear of a foursome, which included the Spanish duo of Gonzalo Escauriaza and Gonzalo Escauriaza, Thailand’s Sung-Keun Kim and Stuart Archibald of England.
Thailand’s Zoom said he drove the ball well and putted well. “I felt comfortable with my swing and holed some nice putts. I think I can do even better, the confidence is there,” said the rising star with a glint in his eyes.
An initiative of the Shaikh Maktoum Golf Foundation, the MENA Golf Tour was created in 2011 with the aim of developing golf in the region. It is affiliated to R&A, the worldwide golf governing body based in the home of golf, St Andrews, and the Arab Golf Federation and enjoys the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) status.
Multiple European Tour starts, including the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, the Hassan II Trophy and the Maybank Championship Malaysia in addition to full playing privileges on the Sunshine Tour and exemptions into the Final Stage of the Asian Tour Q-School for the leading three professionals are some of the added incentives for the MENA Golf Tour members.
