GOLF: Little-known Angelo Que of the Philippines took the clubhouse on the opening day of the weather-interrupted Enjoy Jakarta Indonesia Open before play was suspended.
Que needed just 20 putts to card an eight-under-par 64 at the New Kuta Golf Club, which put him four shots in front of Filipino compatriot Antonio Lascuna, England’s Simon Khan, Jamie Donaldson of Wales, Scotland’s Richie Ramsay and Andrew Dodt of Australia.
Rhys Davies of Wales, Alexander Noren of Sweden, Korean teenager Noh Seung-yul and the English pair of Steve Webster and Miles Tunnicliff were a further shot back after carding three-under 69s.
Heavy rain and the threat of lightning resulted in a two-hour stoppage shortly after the €1million tournament - which is co-sanctioned by the European and Asian Tours – got underway in Bali this morning.
When play eventually resumed just after 9am local time, Que teed off on the back nine and made a good start with a birdie on his first hole, the 10th.
The 30-year-old from Manila parred the next three holes before a 40-footer on the 14th sparked a run of four consecutive birdies which put him on top of the leaderboard on five under at the turn.
Further birdies followed on the first and third and Que then enjoyed a lucky break on the fifth, when he pulled his tee shot into long grass to the left of the fairway.
Although his ball was plugged in a mound, the Filipino was able to recover his ball with some help from a television crew and made par.
He made another birdie to finish with a 64 although it will not count as a course record due to the use of preferred lies.
“I’m very, very pleased with how I played today. I couldn’t have asked for a better start,” said Que, a two-time winner on the Asian Tour.
“The breaks were on my side today. I almost lost my ball on the fifth hole but the TV camera was on me the whole time and they saw where it was and I found it and I was able to make it up and down for a par.”
Rafael Cabrera Bello had the tournament’s first hole-in-one on the 140-yard par-three 15th as he carded a one-under 71.
Thai ace Thongchai Jaidee also shot 71 while Nick Dougherty recovered from a poor start with three birdies on his back nine for a level-par 72.
Gary Murphy carded an opening two-under par 70, one better than Michael Hoey.
