The UAE’s Rayan Ahmed will go to bed tonight with his head full of golfing dreams.
The youngster is currently representing the UAE at the prestigious Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, where he opened his tournament with a four-over-par 74 at Japan’s Taiheiyo Club Gotemba.
Although Ahmed knows he's capable of much better, his performance is commendable given the circumstances - he missed his practice round after only arriving at the elite event on Wednesday.
But there’s a solid reason for his late arrival. He was busy helping the UAE secure a team silver at the Pan Arab Ladies and Youth Golf Championships, where he also took home the individual silver medal in Tunisia.
Ahmed’s first-round score leaves him right on the cut line, and he knows he’ll need to go lower tomorrow to make the weekend in his tournament debut - an event previously won by former Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama.
“The course is brutal, and I had to play ten holes in pouring rain,” Ahmed told Gulf News after his round.
“My approach game was solid, and my putting held up. I’m sitting on the cut line, but I’m not thinking about that anymore. I’m going to take it hole by hole, shot by shot. Plan and execute.”
With a 7 a.m. tee time looming, Ahmed’s focus is clear: “This is not a course you can survive without strategy and precise shot shaping. That’s what I’ll be dreaming about tonight as I prepare for round two.”
Randy Bintang leads the way in Japan after he birdied four of his last six holes on his way to a five-under-par round of 65. The only blemish on his card came with a bogey at the 10th, but overall, Bintang was pleased with his round.
“This is the biggest amateur tournament I have ever played and this is my third here,” he said. “I'm just starting to play my best. I'm pretty proud because my putting was really good today. I'm really pleased with my game and the chance to play with the best players in the world.”
Wang Ngai Shen is one shot back from the lead at four-under along with Japanese duo Rintaro Nakano and Taishi Moto.
