Guam Open
Leo Palace Resort
Guam
14th - 17th May 1998

First Round Report

First Round Scores

Imai makes strong start

Guam, 14th May, 1998 -  Little-known Katsumune Imai of Japan made a superb start to his first Omega Tour event today 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 from Chiba heads the leaderboard from Korea's Chung Joon, while Taiwan's Ho Chia-feng lies third a further stroke behind on four under par.

"I'm a little surprised at my score because my aim at the start of the day was to shoot even par - this is my first event on the Omega Tour, I was in the last flight out and the wind was getting stronger as the afternoon went on," said the San Diego-based Imai. "But I had a great start, making birdies on the first three holes, and after that I gained in 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.

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

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

After starting on the 10th, where he nailed a birdie putt from 12 feet, Chung went to two under par after sinking a 30-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 a 16 footer on the eighth. Ironically, Chung's three bogeys were the result of three-putting three of the greens.

Having toured his front nine with a level par 36, Ho moved into contention with four birdies in a bogey-free back nine 32. The Taiwanese ace lies a shot ahead of eight players sharing fourth spot, including Jerry Smith of America.

After 15 holes Smith was also on course to join the front runners at the top of the leaderboard, but the American saw some of his excellent early work undone following dropped shots on the seventh and ninth. Having also started his account on the 10th, Smith left his seven iron short on the par 3 seventh and failed to get up and down, and then double bogeyed his final hole, the ninth, after hitting his tee shot out of bounds.

The 1997 Guam Open champion, Gerry Norquist of America, made a solid start to his defence, firing a two under par 70 for a share of 12th place.