Asian Tour: Tabuena rides India momentum to World City Championship lead, as Hong Kong’s Kho sparkles in opening round
- Miguel Tabuena cards seven-under 63 at Hong Kong Golf Club to take one-shot lead after first round
- Hongkonger Taichi Kho’s six-under 64 had given him early clubhouse lead at Fanling course
Taichi Kho got off to a fast start in the World City Championship and kept on going on Thursday, with a largely flawless 64 giving the Hongkonger an early clubhouse lead in the Asian Tour event.
It was the 22-year-old’s best round on Hong Kong Golf Club’s composite course, but it still wasn’t enough to deny Miguel Tabuena, who hasn’t taken his foot off the gas since winning in Delhi five days ago.
Tabuena shot a seven-under-par 63 in Fanling to give himself a one-shot lead, and the Filipino’s bogey at the par-four 16th was his first in 34 holes.
Australian Scott Hend, meanwhile, rattled off a run of three consecutive birdies on his closing three holes to get to five-under, putting him in third ahead of countryman Kevin Yuan, India’s S. Chikkarangappa, Thailand’s Suradit Yongcharoenchai and South African Ian Snyman a shot further back.
“I’m riding some momentum from last week, it’s nice to be bogey-free for 34 holes, had an errant tee-shot on 16, but other than that I’m playing great golf,” said Tabuena, who shot a final-round 65 to win the DGC Open on Sunday.
“It’s very early in the week to even think about the finish line, but if I play the way I’m playing I know I’ll give myself a good chance on the back nine on Sunday.”
After saving par on 18 with an impressive up and down from the greenside bunker, which Tabuena said was important because “it will keep me in a better mood for tonight’s dinner with the family”, the greatest threat this week may come from the fatigue he’s still feeling after his first win on Tour in five years.
Tabuena said fitness coach Harry Sese, a fellow Filipino who also works with world No 2 Jon Rahm, had already sent him a message reminding him to stay hydrated.
If the afternoon belonged to the overnight leader, the morning was all about the golf club’s newest ambassador. Kho, who started on the 11th hole, was four-under through his first three, with an eagle at the par-five 13th underlying the comfort with which he approached his home course.
Advised by his caddie to aim his approach left, Kho said his gut feeling was he could “go right at” the flag.
“I hit a seven-iron to like a foot and tapped it in and that was a good start to the round,” Kho said.
A birdie at the 17th took him to the turn at five-under, before the only blemish on his round at the first, which he bogeyed. Birdies at four and the 10th, where he drained a 10-footer, put him in the clubhouse a shot ahead of the field.
“It’s like playing four holes of an 18-hole round, it’s still quite early, there is still a lot of golf to be played and I’ll carry some of that momentum into tomorrow.”
Although his score wouldn’t suggest it, Kho admitted to being nervous and with a large crowd following him around said there had been more noise that he was used to.
Not that he was surprised by the nerves, saying he had prepared mentally for the event pretty well.
“It was quite a new experience for me teeing it up today, and I think it was really important to focus on what I can control,” he said. “I can’t control what I shoot, I can’t control what I hit, I can control my process leading up to that, so that’s what I focused on and I did a really good job today.”
Of the other 19 Hong Kong golfers in the field, Terrence Ng and amateurs Wu Sho-wai and Issac Lam fared best, shooting level-par, while Matthew Cheung was a shot further back after an opening round 71.
