Asian Tour: Wei-chih leads early in Midea China Classic

text size

GUANGZHOU, China -- Chinese Taipei's Lu Wei-chih opened his campaign at this week's $500,000 Midea China Classic in a blistering pace by taking the first round lead with a seven-under-par 64 on Thursday.

The 29-year old fired a total of eight birdies against a lone bogey to take a one-stroke lead over fellow compatriot Hsu Mong-nan while Scotland's Simon Dunn together with Korea's Noh Seung-yul and Park Jun-won are both a further shot back in a tie for third place.

The Koreans are trailed closely behind by a total of 12 players who all take a share of sixth place. They include Wales' Rhys Davies, Australia's Mitchell Brown, Andrew Dodt, Henry Epstein, Terry Pilkadaris, Richard Moir and Jason King, Chinese Taipei's Chen Yuan-chi and China's Kong Wei-hai, Malaysia's S. Chandhran Siva, Switzerland's Martin Rominger and Singapore's Lam Chih Bing.

Lu, with one Asian Tour victory to his record, got off the blocks on the front nine by recording seven birdies to make the turn in 29.

A bogey at the start of his back-nine only halted his charge momentary as he went on record another birdie on the par four, 12th before completing his homeward run in 64.

"I'm very happy with my score today. Of course, it would be better if I can do like what Liang Wen-chong did in India when he recorded an opening round score of 60," said Lu.

"My swings and tee shots were all very good today and I hope to continue this good form, going into tomorrow's round," added Lu.

While Lu credited his drivers for his good performance, it was the putter that worked for Noh instead.

The 17-year-old Korean, who already has three runner-up finishes in his rookie year on the Asian Tour, mixed seven birdies with two bogeys to stake a strong claim for his maiden title.

"I'm pleasantly surprised by my short game today. Every putt that I made went in today and I can only hope that it gets better tomorrow," said Noh.

Rominger, also bidding for his maiden Asian Tour title, has put himself into contention and credits his family who are all here with him at the Royal Orchid International Golf Club as his lucky charm.

"My family is here with me for the first time in China. In fact, this is the first time that they are all with me this year. Maybe I have to bring them over more often as I tend to play better with them around," said the Swiss.

Lam, who made a similar strong start in India only to falter in the final round last week, has vowed to put that behind him and focus on the task ahead.

"I played pretty steady today, made a couple of good putts and was rewarded with six birdies. Give me the same position like what I did last week and I'm sure I'll do better," said the Singaporean.

Meanwhile, crowd favourite Liang Wen-chong of China, finished with a 68 to take a share of the 18th place and is four strokes off the lead.

"It's a great day out there for me today. I'm playing well and there are still three more rounds to go. I'm not feeling any pressure and there's still everything to play for," said the 2007 Asian Tour Order of Merit champion.