Udayan Mane. Filepic: Paul Lakatos/ Asian Tour
Jakarta, Indonesia, June 8: Udayan Mane, the lone Indian at the Asian Development Tour’s OB Golf Invitational grabbed a share of the first round lead with a superb finish that saw him birdie the last four holes in a row and five of the last six. Mane, former India No. 1 on the domestic Tour and an Olympian in Tokyo, shot 7-under 65 and was tied for the lead with Thailand’s Poosit Supupramai.
Mane starting on the tenth birdied 11th and 12th, but gave away a shot on 17th. On his second nine, the front side of the course, he birdied first and fourth and then from fifth ninth,
Supupramai, after teeing off in one of the first groups, posted a bogey-free round with four birdies on the front nine and three on the back.
Abdul Hadi, with two starts on the Asian Tour already this year, had a more mercurial front nine with six birdies and one bogey, but was unable to maintain momentum and slipped back to third place with a six-under 66.
Thailand’s Sarun Srithon was one of the later finishers who completed their round before play was stopped for a second time due to rain. He carded a 66 to join the group in third spot, together with Malaysia’s Shahriffuddin Ariffin.
Inclement weather stopped play temporarily at 2.05pm, with golfers returning to the course at 3.15pm after a short delay. The US$70,000 event saw the first round being completed early on Wednesday.
Danny Chia of Malaysia started the day in steady fashion. Teeing off on Hole 10, he maintained par through the first nine holes, then began to gather pace for a strong finish, birdieing six of his last nine holes to score a five-under 67.
