The road to redemption for Thai Sarit Suwannarut starts here.
Out to make up for his recent heartbreaker in Macau, Suwannarut turned in a near-flawless eight-under 64 to overshadow the big guns in the International Series Philippines presented by BingoPlus yesterday.
The Thai ace got things going by birdying six of his first 10 holes from the backside of the Sta. Elena Golf Club. He then countered a lone bogey on the par-3 No. 2 with four birdies en route to the strong 32-32 opener that he recorded two weeks after blowing a two-shot lead in the final round of the Macau Open and settling for fourth.
When the rest of the star-studded 144-player field that counts four major winners had submitted their scorecards, Suwannarut found himself alone at the top.
He’s one up on Japanese Kazuki Higa, who submitted a bogey-free 65 for solo second with Americans Charles Porter and George Kneiser, Scotland’s Richard Bland and Thailand’s Chapchai Nirat a stroke back at 66s.
Two-time major titlist Dustin Johnson, who drew a large admiring crowd clutching phones to capture his movements in his marquee flight with Pinoy star Miguel Tabuena, shot a 67 for a share of seventh. Tabuena made a 69, a card matched by compatriot Clyde Mondilla, for joint 23rd.
Tabuena was even through 14 holes then strung up three birdies in his last four.
‘I’m pretty pleased with how I finished and I think it’s what I needed,’ said the home bet, who drew extra energy from supporters on-ground.
‘They were out in full force and just to hear my name from the crowd every single shot, no matter what happened with my shots or my game, they were always there. And it’s nice because I don’t get that every week. So I’m going to use that as a positive and try to play for them this week.’
‘It was perfect. I’ve been playing pretty good. I mean, before a round, I know I can share the ball number with my caddie and hit the shots. I tell myself, you can hit it, you can do it,’ said Suwannarut.
It’s also the comeback of sorts on Philippine soil for the 27-year-old parbuster, who failed to make the cut and finished tied 97th at the Smart Infinity Philippine Open last January.
In front of several fans, former world No. 1 Johnson went to work, gunning down nine birdies to offset his double-bogey mishap on the par-4 15th and two bogeys in the front.
‘Any time you made nine birdies, you played well. I had a lot of really good shots, a lot of good looks at birdie. One bad drive on 15, I ended up making a double. But other than that, it was a really solid round,’ said Johnson.