Birdie blitz gives Australia’s Griffin lead in S Korea

AFP/South Korea

Nine birdies in perfect conditions helped give Australia’s Matt Griffin a one shot lead after the first round of OneAsia’s one billion won ($900,000) SK Telecom Open in South Korea yesterday.

Griffin shot an eight-under-par 64, with just one bogey, to give him the lead over Korean veteran Kang Wook-soon, one shot behind.

Ten others were jostling for position at six under—including China’s Hu Mu, Australians Anthony Brown and Jason Norris, American David Oh and Michael Long of New Zealand.

Korea’s Kim Do-hoon, runner-up at last week’s GS Caltex Maekyung Open, was also at six under, along with countrymen Kang Kyung-nam, Jang Dong-kyu, Kim Jae-ho and Lee Sung-ho.

Playing the Jeju Island course back-to-front, Griffin started with a birdie and then put on a masterclass from the 15th to the second with six in-a-row. 

He three-putted the fourth for a routine par and repeated the sin on the seventh for a bogey, but birdies on six and nine put him in charge of the tournament.  “For a while I had visions of Thailand,” said Griffin, who finished the last round of the season-opening Thailand Open in April with eight birdies in-a-row for a career-low 64. “I had a good go at eagle on the last today which would have given me a 63, but it wasn’t to be,” he said in a OneAsia press release.

Kang, 46, a seven-time winner on the Asian Tour and two-time Order of Merit champion, has not lifted a title since 2009 and said his confidence had taken a blow after missing the cut at the GS Caltex Maekyung Open last week on a course he normally favours.

Defending champion Kim Bi-o posted a 68, one better than star attraction K.J. Choi, who jetted in straight from the United States after finishing joint 48th on Sunday at The Players Championship, a tournament he won in 2011.

“I’m adjusting to the jet lag better than expected, my condition feels great,” said Choi. “I thought maybe two or three under would be a great round today, but the scores are even better.”

The shot of the day belonged to American Jason Kang, who aced the 176-metre (193-yard) par three 17th to win a Jaguar XF 2.0P luxury four-door sedan worth 70 million won (around $65,000).

“None of us saw it go in,” he said of his five-iron shot, finishing the day one under.