TIANJIN, China -- Thailand's Thammanoon Srirot turned back the clock as a spectacular seven-under-par 64 gave him the joint first round lead in the $200,000 Tianjin TEDA Open Presented by Rolls-Royce today.
Thammanoon shot matching 32s which included nine birdies at Tianjin Warner International Golf Club to finish the day atop the leaderboard with India's Arjun Singh and Korean Chung Joon, who both enjoyed bogey-free outings in the Asian Tour event.
A shot back of the leading trio are Gerald Rosales of the Philippines, Korea's Mo Joong-kyung, Thai-based Scotsman Simon Yates, winner of the SK Telecom Open in Korea in May and Chinese Taipei's Chan Yih-shin.
When the Tianjin event was last staged in 1999, Thammanoon also ended the first round as the co-leader before going on to secure a one-shot victory, which was his last success in the region. He was delighted to be back in a similar position.
"My driving was very good today. I only missed two fairways and at most times, I had a pitching wedge or sand wedge for my approach shots. If I keep hitting my driver straight, I'll have a chance of winning here again," said a confident Thammanoon.
The Thai, who holed the winning putt that sealed Asia's victory over Japan in the inaugural Dynasty Cup last year, had a great start with three opening birdies. And the fireworks continued on his back nine with six more birdies against two dropped shots on the 15th and 17th holes.
"That was quite a back nine with only one par. I was annoyed to three-putt 17 from 15 feet, otherwise I could have been the sole leader," said the Thai.
Singh hopes changes to his swing during the summer break will turn his season around after a wretched first six months of the year with only one top-20 outing and four missed cuts. The Indian birdied two of his first three holes, the 10th and 12th, before rolling in a monster 30-footer on 17 to turn in three under. He knocked in four more birdies on his inward nine
"I had a shaky start but kept it together. But on the inward nine, I was really solid and hit it close. Everything just clicked. It's a nice start but there is a long way to go," said Singh.
The Indian, who is searching for his first victory on the Asian Tour, visited swing coach Jim Fonda in Las Vegas and said the American has helped tighten his swing. "There were faults which involved mainly in my weight transfer and I worked on it. It's not there yet.
"I won't start thinking about winning. It's been a real struggle this year and I just want to play well here to get my second half of the season off to a good start."
Chung missed a four-foot birdie putt on his last hole for sole possession of the lead but was delighted to be in the mix. The Korean, last year's Maekyung Open winner, was at the David Leadbetter Academy in Florida in June and felt his game benefited from the two-month stint.
