Tom McKibbin fired a course-record 10-under par 60 to take a one-shot lead over Thailand's Jazz Janewattananond after the first round of the Link Hong Kong Open at Fanling.
But homegrown amateur star Jeffrey Shen Wang-ngai enjoyed a share of the limelight, when he fired a 63 that put him in a strong position to make the halfway cut of the Asian Tour International Series event, just days after he suffered heat stroke at the Asian Pacific Amateur Championship in Dubai.
Northern Irishman McKibbin’s bogey-free round was the highlight of a morning of low scoring at the Hong Kong Golf Club, with Janewattananond shooting a 61 and his Thai compatriot Kiradech Aphibarnrat another shot further back on 62 in a tie with former British Open winner Louis Oosthuizen and Belgian Thomas Pieters.
Then came the 22-year-old Shen, who made the most of his familiarity with the course.
"I like this feeling, with my family and my friends here to support me, and because this is my home course, every time I feel really good here,” Shen said. “At Hong Kong Golf Club, it is all about the putting. So you need to plan for it because the pin position is changed every day.”
McKibbin, a European Tour winner in Germany, finished tied for sixth at the LIV Golf Hong Kong earlier this season.
On flirting with Patrick Reed’s third-round 59 last year which did not count as a record because preferred lies were used, McKibbin said he did not think it was possible. “But yes, 60 is the lowest round that I have ever shot – 62 has been my best before. So it was nice to break that, fantastic,” he added.
