Kennedy puts big names in the shade

Australian Brad Kennedy upstaged the big guns to take the first round lead in the star-studded Johnnie Walker Classic with a superb seven-under-par 65 on Thursday.

Kennedy, a regular on the Asian Tour, sank eight birdies at the spectacular Blue Canyon Country Club and leads by one stroke from former US Masters champion Mike Weir of Canada, Stephen Gallacher of Scotland, England's Graeme Storm and Sweden's Peter Hanson.

Asia's number one Jeev Milkha Singh, last year's winner of the UBS Order of Merit, flew the flag for the region with an accomplished 67 that included an eagle, courtesy of a 60-foot putt on the ninth.

The Johnnie Walker Classic's star attractions, South African duo Ernie Els and Retief Goosen and Australian Adam Scott, all top-10 players in the world, endured mixed fortunes over the challenging par-72, 7,189 yard course.

World number eight Goosen, who won the Commercialbank Qatar Masters in January, enjoyed a solid 68 to lie three back but the sixth-ranked Els, chasing a record third victory in the prestigious Johnnie Walker Classic, endured a roller-coaster day, shooting six birdies, three bogeys and two double bogeys for a 73. World number four Scott, the highest ranked player in the field, struggled to a 74, his woes compounded when a two-foot birdie putt on his last hole horse-shoed out.

After missing the cut in his last two tournaments, Kennedy returned home to the Gold Coast and put in the hours at the gym and practice range with his coach Ian Triggs and he clearly struck gold today in idyllic Phuket.

"I had a great start, chipping in on the first for birdie and hit a great 4-iron to two feet on the second. Things just started and I just eased my way through the round after that. I hit a lot of fairways," said Kennedy.

"I missed the cut in Qatar and Malaysia, didn't play Indonesia and went home and got stuck at the gym and had a good couple of weeks with my coach. We just found a couple of keys to my swing and I feel sort of ready to play these next four weeks in a row now," added the Australian, who enjoyed a couple of seasons on the European Tour before turning his focus back on Asia.

The left-handed Weir, making his debut in the Johnnie Walker Classic and visiting Thailand for the first time, has adapted quickly to the heat and humidity of Phuket, an impressive feat considering that he was enjoying some skiing only last Sunday in Salt Lake City.

An eagle three on the par five 11th, set up with a glorious rescue club shot from 230 yards out that landed eight feet away, was Weir's highlight of the round. "It was a nice high fade, probably the best shot I hit today. The score was great today," said Weir, who describes himself as a two-handicapper in skiing.

"I still feel I can sharpen up a few things. I'm not saying I'm going to shoot six under every day but I feel that I've been giving myself chances. That's the key to shooting good scores," added the 36-year-old, who has won seven US PGA Tour titles including the 2003 US Masters.

Singh, who shot to international fame last year by winning four titles globally, has made all four cuts this season but is still without a high finish, something which he has attributed to his "lack of trust" in his putting.

But after ramming in a 60-foot eagle putt on the ninth, the Indian star was once again featuring on the leaderboard. "I'll take this. Instead of hitting it good and missing putts, I prefer this kind of golf as it takes away the frustration of missing putts," beamed Singh.

"It's more exciting as it gets you going. You know that when you're on the greens, you can do something. I'll take this kind of day any day over hitting it good and not making any putts. That's a good feeling. It's been a while. I've been waiting for my putting stroke to come back and I'm very happy with that. I didn't try to hole putts. I just tried to follow my routine on the putts and I was patient," said Singh, who added four birdies and a bogey on his card.

Els, nicknamed the "Big Easy", didn't quite have an easy day in the office, dropping two shots each on the seventh and 16th but found comfort that the birdies were there for the taking. "Well I played well. I had two double bogeys on easy holes. There is a lot of golf left. Obviously this is not the way you want to start but I made six birdies today and had my troubles. I like to start playing good over the weekend. Obviously need a really low one somewhere along the lines. Hopefully we can do it tomorrow."

Less than a week after trudging through the rugged terrains of the Scottish highlands in the freezing cold, Gallacher, whose uncle Stephen is a former European Ryder Cup captain, lived up to Johnnie Walker's motto of "Keep Walking" as he battled the heat and humidity to surge into contention.

The 2004 Dunhill Links winner said: "I went with six of my friends and we were walking through the heather, soaked to the bone in seven degrees (Centigrade) compared to over 30 degrees here. We did a total of 40 miles in two days. That was my preparation for this tournament! It was good. I enjoyed it.

"I’ve never been to Thailand or Malaysia before and you have to be fit to play here. I went through about eight litres of water to stay rehydrated in this heat. Coming from Scotland we are not used to this. We never get humidity like this."

Leading first round scores

65 - Brad Kennedy (AUS)

66 - Graeme Storm (ENG), Mike Weir (CAN), Stephen Gallacher (SCO), Peter Hanson (SWE)

67 - Scott Gardiner (AUS), Richard Lee (NZL), Jeev Milkha Singh (IND), Graeme Mcdowell (NIR)

68 - Wang Ter-chang (TPE), Barry Hume (SCO), Keith Horne (RSA), Oliver Wilson (ENG), Peter Fowler (AUS), Nick Dougherty (ENG), Retief Goosen (RSA), Richard Bland (ENG), Marc Warren (SCO)

69 - Iain Steel (MAS), Angelo Que (PHI), Gaurav Ghei (IND), Craig Parry (AUS), David Frost (RSA), Colin Montgomerie (SCO), Lu Wen-teh (TPE), James Nitties (AUS)

70 - Nick Flanagan (AUS), Lin Ken-chi (TPE), Wade Ormsby (AUS), Peter O'Malley (AUS), Zhang Lian-wi (CHN), Rafael Cabrera Bello (ESP), Edward Michaels (USA), Terry Pilkadaris (AUS), Jarrod Moseley (AUS), Peter Senior (AUS), Simon Khan (ENG), Unho Park (AUS), Gary Emerson (ENG), Adam Blyth (AUS), Lin Wen-tng (TPE), Suk Jong-yul (KOR), Kim Felton (AUS)

March 1, 2007

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