Nomura Cup: Japan and Chinese Taipei off to flying start in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi: Japan’s Daisuke Matasubara finished in the dark but still managed to set the 27th Nomura Cup alight with a sizzling course-record 62 on an opening day of slow but spectacular scoring at Yas Links Abu Dhabi.

Matasubara reeled off eight birdies and an eagle three on Yas Link’s par-five 11th to finish 10-under and set Japan up as a serious title contender at the biennial Asia-Pacific Amateur Golf Team Championship.

Chinese Taipei held the clubhouse lead overnight with a team aggregate of 198, 18-under-par (the lowest three of four scores count towards the team total in each round).

Japan were also at 18-under but two players, Takumi Kanaya and Toshiki Ishitoku, must return early on Friday morning to play Yas Link’s tricky, water-guarded par-five 18th to complete their first rounds.

With Matasubara at 10-under, Naoyuki Kataoka also finished at four-under and Kanaya at level par, the spotlight will be on Ishitoku, who was four-under when play was suspended due to darkness, to see if he can birdie the 18th to hand Japan the first-round lead.

Thailand, helped immeasurably by a 64 from Witchayanon Chothirunrungrueng, will start the second round in third place at 10-under, five shots ahead of Singapore in third. New Zealand (-4), defending champions Australia (-3), China (-2) and India (-1) round out the top seven with the remaining 20 nations all over par.

An opening round of one-under 71 from Khalid Yousuf set up an encouraging start from the United Arab Emirates with the host nation in a share of 10th place overnight alongside GCC rivals Qatar on +6.

Whatever happens early tomorrow with Ishitoku, this Nomura Cup is off to sensational start scoring wise despite rounds frustratingly exceeding six hours.

Travis Smyth, the No. 1 player for defending champions Australia, predicted before the tournament that 10-under over 72 holes would go close to topping the individual leaderboard at Yas Links. That theory has been destroyed after just 18 holes by Matasubara, who took advantage of the lighter afternoon breeze, soft greens and a hot putter to slash two shots off the amateur course record set by Mattias Eggenberger in the 2013 Yas Links Open.

Chun-An Yu held the record for a few brief moments, his 63 propelling Chinese Taipei to the clubhouse lead. But the day was ultimately Matasubara’s.

The UAE were delighted with their opening-round efforts. As well as Yousuf’s 71, a round that mixed five birdies with two double bogeys, 18-year-old Ahmed Skaik produced a fine 75 and Rashid Hamood a 76. Abdulla Al Qubaisi started quickly with birdies on the opening two holes, but faded to a non-counting 84.

“I believe our first round at the last Nomura Cup [in Thailand two years ago] was 19-over, so we’ve cut that by two thirds which is pretty good,” said Yousuf.

“Everyone is really happy, impressed with the guys. We just have to follow on from today and not get too far ahead of ourselves. We’re happy with today but there are three rounds left and a lot of golf to play.

“And as you can see from the scores from the other teams, they’re not going to back down.”