Mike Cunning takes first lead in Singapore
Mike Cunning takes first lead in Singapore
By Bobby Allen Wilson
SINGAPORE (JP): American Mike Cunning took the first round
lead today in the US$200,000 Yokohama Singapore PGA Championship
at Raffles Country Club and promptly admitted that his record in
Asia drove him crazy.
The 39 year old from Phoenix, Arizona, fired a six-under-par
66 at Raffles Country Club to lead the Omega Tour event by one
stroke from Thailand's Thammanoon Sriroj and Australian Grant
Dodd.
Indonesia's Kasiadi who has been in the Tour since the Sabah
Masters, finished joint fourth with a fine 3-under-par 69 with
South Korean Goo Ja-hoon.
Maan Naasim, the second Indonesian player in the fray,
finished poorly when he closed the round with a 2-over 74.
The Surabaya-based Kasiadi, who made good score until the
second round at the Singapore Open last month, fired three
birdies yesterday in the 2nd, 4th and 12th.
Kasiadi last week was honored to receive a set of golf
equipment from Mizuno comprising wood set, forged iron set, golf
bag, shoes and visor. The set was received by Taufic Aziz,
secretary-general of the Indonesia Golf Association and was
presented by a Golf House official at Jakarta's Pondok Indah Golf
and Country club.
For well over a decade, the name Cunning has regularly
featured at the top of the leaderboard in Asia but the American
has been frustrated with his lack of tournament titles. Cunning
has won three times in Asia but his many top-10 finishes paint
the picture of what should have been.
The American is currently enjoying one of the best seasons of
his career but again his impressive statistics are missing a
victory. On the Omega Tour in 1997 he has finished second once
and third on three occasions.
Cunning made seven birdies in his round over the 6,829-yard
layout and dropped just one shot.
The haze, caused by forest fires in Indonesia, is not as bad
in Singapore as it is Malaysia and Indonesia, but nevertheless it
maintained a murky presence over the Robert Trent Jones Jr.-
designed course at Raffles.
Cunning, who is presently first on the Omega Order of Merit,
made the turn in three-under-par 33 and quickly shot into the
lead with birdies on 14, 15 and 17.
New putter
Suspect putting, which has been the main reason Cunning has
been unable to win more often in Asia, was evident in the
American's game today.
"I used a new putter for the first time today and used two
different putting techniques, one cross-handed and the other
conventional," said Cunning.
Thammanoon, looking to make amends for his sudden-death play-
off loss in the Sabah Masters title in August, moved into
contention after a round highlighted by a brilliant short game
performance. The 28 year old chipped in twice for birdies and
also holed a 30-footer for a birdie.
"I was a bit lucky. The course was very tough. You really
can't afford to miss the fairways otherwise you will most
probably start bogeying holes," said Thammanoon, who fired seven
birdies in his round.
India's Jeev Milkha Singh who played with the Thai player was
in awe of Thammanoon's short game. "He was just amazing. I have
never seen anything like it. His short game has to be one of the
best in the world."
Results:
66 - Mike Cunning (USA)
67 - Thammanoon Sriroj (Tha), Grant Dodd (Aus)
68 - Yasuhiro Taguchi (Jpn), Yeh Wei-Tze (Tpe)
69 - Kasiadi (Ina), Goo Ja-hoon (Kor), Scott Laycock (Aus), Aaron
Meeks (USA), Craig Kamps (Rsa)
70 - Dominique Boulet (Hkg), Shoichi Kita (Jpn), Nico Van
Rensburg (Rsa), Greg Hanrahan (USA), Thaworn Wiratchant
(Tha), Andrew Bonhomme (Aus), Wayne Bradley (Rsa)
71 - Christian Pena (USA), Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind), Arjun Atwal
(Ind), Zaw Moe (Myn), Prayad Marksaeng (Tha)
72 - Eric Meeks (USA), Fran Quinn (USA), Soe Kyaw Naing (Myn),
Robert Huxtable (USA), Toru Kinoshita (Jpn), Boonchu
Ruangkit (Tha), Leith Wastle (Aus), Supha Veerawut (Tha)
...
74 - Maan Naasim (Ina)