Dubai: Dubai-based MG Keyser of South Africa, representing Jumeirah Golf Estates, shot a first round one under-par 71 to lie in tied fifth place in The Singapore International on the Asian Tour, being held at Tanah Merah Country Club over the Tampines Course.
On a day of continued strong winds, Keyser produced a very solid round with nines of 36 and 35, including birdies on holes 9 and 18 and just one dropped shot on the par 5 eighth hole, completed with 15 pars.
The leader, Khalin Joshi (India) shot a 67 and is on five-under par with a seven-birdie card and has a two-shot lead. On a day of tough scoring, just eight players broke par.
The other Dubai-based players both struggled, veterans Jeev Milkha Singh (India) with a 78 (tied 80th) and Shiv Kapur one more on 79 (tied 88th).
Elliott Gray, Dubai veteran and new GM of the host golf club, Tanah Merah Country Club, said: ‘It is great to catch-up with friends from Dubai: MG, Jeev and Shiv. I have only just started my new position, so cannot take too much credit yet! The Tampines Course, not only a great layout, conditioned to Tour standard is an incredible piece of land on this beautiful island. It’s an absolute pleasure to hear the feedback and compliments from Asia’s best players on how the course is set up.’
In this penultimate tournament on the 2020-2021 Asian Tour Order of Merit, Chan, Shih-chang (Chinese Taipei), currently 4th, was the best of the OOM top 5 with a 71, alongside MG. Current OOM leader Wade Ormsby (Aus) shot a level par 72 to be in tied 9th place.
Leading First Round Scores (Par 72)
K. Joshi (Ind) 67; W. Harrold (Eng) 69; P. Peterson (US) 70; A. Sandhu (Ind) 70; J. Janewattananond (Thai) 71; C. Shih-chang (Chi Taipei) 71; P. Tangkamolprasert (Thai) 71; MG Keyser (RSA) 71. Other notables: S. Sharma (Ind) 73; O. Almulla (KSA) 76.
