Phil Mickelson made a smooth transition to the rigours of Asian golf on Thursday to lurk two off the pace alongside KJ Choi after the opening round of the Barclays Singapore Open.
The world number two, in a rare outing to the region, fired five birdies in his three-under-par 68 to remain in touch with a trio of overnight leaders — Australians Gavin Flint and Kane Webber, and American Jin Park.
Korea’s Choi, the world number nine, also carded a 68. Filipino Angelo Que stands alone in second on 67.
Defending champion Adam Scott, rusty after a month off, recovered from a bogey on his first hole to shoot a 70, which was matched by Fijian star Vijay Singh.
But Ernie Els, fresh from his victory at the World Match-Play Championships at Wentworth last month, struggled to a 72 after suffering a stomach upset on Wednesday. US Open champion Angel Cabrera posted an even-par 71.
Mickelson, whose only blemishes were a double bogey on the third when he went into the trees, and a bogey on the fifth, raved about the ”immaculate” Serapong course on Sentosa island but said his driving let him down.
”I didn’t expect the course to be that difficult. It is very tough and it is not easy to make birdies,” said the three-time Major winner.
”I scored well and got the ball into the hole well and hit some good iron shots, but my driving has been terrible and the worst since I’ve been working with [coach] Butch Harmon.
”If I can get my driver and three wood turned around, I will be able to have a good remaining three days.”
The unassuming Choi, who has broken into the world’s top 10 for the first time this season, said he played conservatively after being unable to get a good look the greens in his warm-up on Wednesday.
”Yesterday [Wednesday] I was not able to analyse the greens as much as I would have liked so I was a little careful about attacking the greens,” said the Korean, who has won twice on the US PGA Tour this year.
”I finished with three-under, which was better than I expected. I’d be happy if I could score three-under every day.”
While most of the marquee names at the $4-million event remain in the hunt, three Asian Tour regulars find themselves at the top of the leaderboard.
Flint has only won one tournament before — the New South Wales PGA in 2005 — while Webber’s solitary trophy was the Macau Open last year. Park has yet to win anything.
”It’s definitely great to have the opportunity to compare myself against some of the best players in the world,” said Flint.
”At the moment it feels good to be leading but it’s still early days. It’s just one step at a time.”
Scott, going for an historic ”three-peat” in Singapore, knows he needs to lift his game to be in contention on Sunday, forecasting that 12 under par could be enough to win.
”I was actually quite pleased with my round. It was pretty solid although I left a couple of birdies out there,” he said.
”If you miss certain shots here you can get in pretty awkward positions and it can be quite a strain to make pars.
”I think 12 under would be a good score. This is a pretty tricky golf course.”
Asian number one Liang Wen-chong stroked a disappointing 75 and will struggle to make the cut while local hopes were dashed when Singaporean Mardan Mamat was disqualified after mistakenly signing for a 68 when he shot a 69. — AFP
