Unknown Imai off to flying start in Guam Golf Open

GUAM (Agencies): Little known Katsumune Imai of Japan made a superb start to his first Omega Tour event yesterday by firing a six under par 66 for a one-shot lead after the opening round of the US$200,000 Guam Open at Leo Palace Resort.

Despite playing in the final group of the day, Imai carded an eagle, six birdies and two bogeys over the challenging 6,609-yard layout.

The 26-year-old golfer from Chiba heads the leaderboard from South Korea's Chung Joon, while Taiwanese Ho Chia-Feng lies third a further stroke behind on four under par.

"I'm a little surprise at my score because my aim at the start of the day was to shoot even par --this is my first ever event on the Omega Tour. I was in the last flight out and the wind was getting stronger as the afternoon went out," said the San Diego- based Imai.

"But I had a great start, making birdies on the first three holes and after that I gained confidence --my putting was very good and I hit nearly every fairway."

Imai joint 29th in this year's Omega Tour Qualifying School in Malaysia, toured his front nine in 34 before coming home with a four under par 32. His eagle came at the par five fourth, where he hit an eight iron to within two yards of the flag before nailing the eagle putt.

Chung made an overnight alteration to his putting technique and saw it pay immediate dividends. After changing to a short cross-hand grip, he fired eight birdies and three bogeys for his opening 67.

"Last night I decided to change my grip and I'm glad that it did because I played very well on the green today. It helped me make a number of long birdie putts," said 26-year-old Chung, winner of 1996 Shinhan Open in South Korea.

After starting on the 10th, where he nailed a birdie putt from 12 feet, Chung went to two under par after sinking a 300-foot downhill effort on the 12th. Although he dropped a shot on the 13th, he pulled one back after firing a nine iron to within a foot of the pin on the 15th for an outward 34.

On his back nine, Chung continued to show impressive form on the greens, draining another four birdie putts, including one from 20 feet on the seventh and 16 footer on the eighth. Ironically, his three bogeys were the result of three-putting three of the greens.

Leading scores: 66 - Katsumune Imai (Jpn) 67 - Chung Joon (Kor) 68 - Ho Chia-Feng (Tpe) 69 - Chen Liang-Hsi (Tpe), Jerry Smith (USA), Robin Byrd (USA), Vivek Bhandari (Ind), Ted Gogue (Gum), Lin Chien-Bing (Tpe), Cesar Perez (Mex), Yuji Kurita (Jpn) 70 - Rodrigo Cuello (Phi), Lin Chih-Chen (Tpe), Arjun Atwal (Ind), Scott Laycock (Aus), Gerry Norquist (USA), Tsutomu Ide (Jpn) Norio Matsuki (Jpn) 71 - Masayuki Tomita (Jpn), Wang Ter-Chang (Tpe), Shaun Micheel (USA), Wayne Bradley (Rsa), Felix Casas (Phi), Grant Dodd (Aus), Yoshiaki Daijo (Jpn), Eric Meeks (USA), Lu Wen-Teh (Tpe), Hsieh Yu-Shu (Tpe), Rajeev Mohta (Ind) 72 - Carlos Espinosa (Mex), John Senden (Aus), Simon Yates (Sco), Prayad Marksaeng (Tha), Leith Wastle (Aus), Greg Hanrahan (USA)