Korea’s Bae Sang-moon and Kim Hyung-tae dovetailed superbly to snatch a three shot lead at the Fortis International Challenge, the qualifying event for the Omega Mission Hills World Cup, after a nine-under-par 63 in Thursday’s fourball format.
The Koreans lead Hong Kong’s Derek Fung and David Freeman, who got lost in traffic en route to Kota Permai Golf and Country Club but hit the cruise control mode with their games for a 66. They share second place with Singapore’s Mardan Mamat and Lam Chih Bing.
Ghana’s Victor Bravemensah and Emos Korblah provided the surprise of the day with a 67 to share fourth place with the Philippine team of Angelo Que and Mars Pucay while the home team of Danny Chia and Iain Steel endured a disappointing start with a 73 which left Malaysia at the bottom of the 18-nation competition with Uganda.
With the top three finishers qualifying for the Omega Mission Hills World Cup in China in November, Bae, a winner on the Asian Tour, and Kim were delighted with their flying start. Both players shot four birdies each with Bae adding an eagle on their card.
“It was a really good combination. I made the score on the front nine and on the back nine, Bae came in with his birdies and one eagle. He was really good coming in. He hits it long and I’m hitting fairways all the time. It worked well,” said Kim.
The 22 year old Bae finished the round in stunning fashion when he smashed a 330 yard drive on the par five 18th hole and delivered a precise five wood approach to three feet of the pin. “I hit that last drive 100 per cent and it was very long. I got a bit lucky with the second shot as it ended up close,” smiled Bae, winner of the 2007 SK Telecom Open.
Bae added that they were determined to take advantage of K.J. Choi’s decision to turn down an automatic exemption into the World Cup. “I think we’ve got a good chance. We’ve got a good start now and we’ll try to maintain our run. It’s the first time I’m teaming up with Kim and it’s been good so far. We want to play in the World Cup,” said Bae.
Freeman and Fung, who is driving a friend’s car this week, lost their way to the golf course and needed to make several frantic phone calls before finding their destination with the help of a taxi driver whom they had paid to lead them to Kota Permai.
But once they teed up, Freeman was in cruise mode, birdying the opening two holes and adding three more birdies including an eagle on the last. “It was a solid finish, we made birdie and eagle in the last two holes and were’ pretty happy with that,” said Freeman. “We took a wrong turn this morning and couldn’t find our way back to the highway and had to make a few phone calls and get some help. Thank God for cell phones!” he said, adding that they arrived 50 minutes before their tee time.
Fung, who is chasing a third World Cup appearance, paid tribute to his partner. “I didn’t play my best golf and what David did on the last two holes was pretty spectacular considering where they put the pin on 17 and the eagle on 18,” he said.
Singapore’s Lam, bidding for a fourth World Cup appearance with Mardan, felt they left a few shots out on the golf course which was tricked up with some tough pin positions.
“We left a lot of shots out there and we couldn’t seem to make the putts. But despite that, we’re tied second so we’ll take it,” said Lam, who became a proud father earlier this week. “Korea was pretty solid. The only difference was that they made some putts and we didn’t.”
The unheralded Ghanaians were thrilled to feature amongst the leaders and are hoping that their third attempt at the Fortis International Challenge will lead them to a dream appearance at the World Cup.
Korblah, who plays on the Nigerian circuit, starred for the team with six birdies which drew praise from his partner. “My putting wasn’t good but my partner holed some good ones. If I had putted well, we could have been eight or nine under. But that’s the game and we can’t run away from that,” said Bravemensah.
They are leaving no stones unturned in Friday’s more difficult foursomes (alternate shot), saying they will discuss a gameplan later tonight. “The World Cup is our dream and in our local language, you need to set three stones to set up the pot on the fire. If you use two stones, it’ll fall. As it’s our third try here together, we want to do something. We won’t fall,” said Korblah.
First Round Scores
63 –Korea (Bae Sang-Moon, Kim Hyung-Tae)
66 – Singapore (Mardan Mamat, Lam Chih Bing)
66 - Hong Kong (Derek Fung, David Freeman)
67 – Ghana (Emos Korblah, Victor Bravemensah), Philippines (Angelo Que, Mars Pucay)
68 –Pakistan (Muhammad Shabbir, Muhammad Munir), Italy (Francesco Molinari, Edoardo Molinari)
69 – Nigeria (Oyebanji Gboyega, Odoh Andrew Oche)
70 – Brunei (Pengiran Hassanal, Faiz Damit), Kenya (Dismas Indiza, Anil Shah)
70 – Myanmar (Soe Kyaw Naing, Zaw Zaw Latt)
71 – Indonesia (Junaedi Ibrahim, Sarmilih), Swaziland (Robbie Wesselo, Meshack Zwane)
72 – Bangladesh (Siddiqur Rahman, Jibon Ali), Sri Lanka (Anura Rohana, Lalith Kumara), Nepal (Deepak Thapa Magar, Deepak Neupane)
73 – Uganda (Deo Akope, Godfrey Mande), Malaysia (Iain Steel, Danny Chia)
