Australian Unho Park shares Volvo China Open lead
BY iseekgolf.com | Asian Tour | 2004 Volvo China Open | Round One | 25 Nov 2004
Australian Unho Park and Welshman Bradley Dredge have their sights firmly on the Volvo China Open after sharing the opening day’s honours at Shanghai Silport Golf Club today.
Park, who finished third here last season, shot an accomplished five-under-par 67 which was matched by Dredge’s superb finish where he hit three birdies and an eagle in his last six holes in the US$1 million championship, jointly sanctioned for the first time by the Asian and European Tours.
A stroke back in what is the 10th Volvo China Open are a group of six players, including former European Ryder Cup star Barry Lane and India’s Amandeep Johl. Defending champion Zhang Lian-wei of China enjoyed a strong start with a 69 as he blocked out the pain of an injured hip while the tournament’s draw card Thomas Bjorn of Denmark holed an eagle on the 18th to salvage a frustrating day on the greens en route to a 71.
Former British Open champion Paul Lawrie also carded a 71 which included four birdies to stay within touching distance of the co-leaders.
Park recently underwent laser surgery on his eyes and his all-round game today was as sharp as his vision. He was five under through 10 holes but took his foot off the pedal soon after, parring home. "I drove really good and hit my irons nicely. When I was five under, I missed a few short putts. It was one of those days where you play well but don’t feel happy. I left about four shots out there on the back nine.
“The key to this week is to drive the ball good and I’m doing that right now. My confidence is there. Last week I won at one of the venues for the Japan Qualifying School Third Stage and also finished third here last year.
“I had to miss three events on the Asian Tour recently as I had a laser eye surgery to correct my vision. I don’t really know if that has helped or it’s due to a new putter in my bag, could be a combination of both I guess,” said the 32-year-old Park.
Dredge, who played in last week’s WGC-World Cup in Spain, finished 60th on the recent European Tour Order of Merit and gave himself just the perfect start in his search for a second career win.
While some of his compatriots have struggled with jetlag, Dredge has been wide-eyed. "I’ve heard from some of the guys that they are struggling with jetlag but I’ve slept really well since arriving late on Tuesday night from Spain. I played quite nicely on the back nine," said the 31-year-old.
Dredge had a great run on the back nine, holing a 20-footer on 13, chipping in for eagle at the next hole and then draining a 15-footer on 15. He dropped a shot on 17 but birdied the last after nearly chipping in for eagle.
India’s Johl was another Asian Tour stalwart who rose to the occasion in what is the Tour’s third last stop of the year. "I’ve not been practising much back home during the past two weeks but it seemed to have worked out in my favour," said Johl, whose card included five birdies and just one blemish. “I’ve been striking the ball really good the past few months, so hopefully I can stay up here. It is a nice start but I missed a couple of short putts out there.”
Home hero Zhang had a jittery start, dropping bogeys on the second and third before charging back with a strong back nine of 32. "I started to relax from the 10th after birdieing that hole and started to play better. My concentration wasn’t good at the start, it was really up and down but that birdie on 10 was the turning point. I started playing nicely after that.
“I have had treatment for the past two days on my hip and left thigh but not this morning as it would have affected my performance. There wasn’t any pain this morning as I was just concentrating on what I needed to do out there. I forgot about the pain,” said the 39-year-old.
Bjorn couldn’t buy a putt for most of his round despite playing solidly along the par 72, 7,073 yard Silport layout. "I played the best golf I’ve played in a long while today. I just couldn’t get it into the hole. And then I holed one at the last which would make it an easier ride back to the hotel tonight. It just keeps me in the tournament.
“On the greens, it was just a struggle. I kept giving myself birdie chances but it didn’t happen. But I’m still in it. I’ll go to the practice green now and spend more time on it tomorrow morning than I normally do. One thing you can’t do in a tournament in the first round is you can’t get too down on yourself. I’m four off the lead, it’s not a big disaster,” said the big Dane, a seven-time winner on the European Tour.
For the first time in the Volvo China Open, Volvo Event Management President and CEO Mel Pyatt conducted his first-tee tradition of greeting players alongside European Tour Executive Director-designate George O’Grady and Asian Tour Chief Executive, Louis Martin.
Source – Asian Tour
