Liang, Pariya and Stolz lead Thailand Open
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China's Liang Wenchong, Pariya Junhasavasdikul from Thailand and Australian Andre Stolz took the first round lead today in the US$1 million Thailand Open all capitalizing on fine periods of recent form.
They shot five-under-par 67s at Burapha Golf Club in the sixth event of the season on OneAsia.
Liang is fresh from a brilliant top-10 finish in the US PGA Championship two weeks ago, Pariya narrowly lost in a play-off in the Mercedes-Benz Masters Malaysia last Saturday, whilst Stolz triumphed in a New South Wales PGA event at the weekend.
They lead by one stroke from a group of five players.
Liang, who started his round on the tenth, said : "It was an okay day. On my front nine I had a lot birdie chances but missed many putts. I was a bit tired and needed to wake up and do something, which is what I did. The back nine was far better. I like the course. Today was fine but it depends what I can do on the next three days."
The Chinese number one finished equal eighth in the US PGA Championship showing the class of a player who has won twice on OneAsia. He claimed last year's Midea China Classic and this year's season-opening Luxehills Chengdu Open, also in China.
He missed a short putt for a birdie on the first but made up for that with three birdies on the trot from the second.
Pariya, who is aged 26 and is one of the country's rising stars, lost last week's play-off on the Mercedes-Benz Tour to Singapore's Mardan Mamat, who is also playing this week.
"It was disappointing not to win last week. To lead by three going into the final day and lose felt bad but it was a learning experience. I am playing well. Don't know the secret right now but I am hitting fairways and staying out of the trouble," said Pariya, a graduate of Purdue University in America.
He moved to the top of the leaderboard by not dropping any shots on the back nine and returning in four-under-par 32.
He added: "I did not expect to play that well today. It feels great as it is every Thai's dream to play well in the National Open. I have played here a lot before in local events so I know the course well."
Stolz, one of his country's finest players before a wrist had a profound effect on his career, looked like ending the day in the lead but made a bogey on the final hole.
He has won one title on each the US PGA Tour, Nationwide Tour, and Japan Tour plus tasted victory four times on the PGA Tour of Australasia.
However, in 2005 a nagging wrist injury caused by wear and tear forced him into retirement for nearly three years. He gradually started to play again and rejoined the Tour in Australia in 2008. Last year he won the Victorian PGA Championship.
"I have been playing good lately but I hit some ordinary shots today - the putter kept me in there. I have felt a frustrated man this year whenever I have left the golf course. I have played well the last three or four months and feel like I have been building up to something good but it hasn't happened," said 40-year-old Stolz.
He has been missing cuts on the Nationwide Tour in the United States. To regain some confidence he played in a small event in Vanuatu last week and won.
"I needed to remind myself how to win and it worked," added the Australian, who won the 2004 Michelin Championship at Las Vegas on the US PGA Tour.
Australians Matthew Millar, Brad Kennedy and Matthew Griffin, Korean Kim Tae-kyun plus Pavit Tangkamolprasert from Thailand all shot 68.
New Zealand's Michael Hendry, winner of the Indonesia Open presented by Enjoy Jakarta last month, carded a 70 along with Malaysian Danny Chia, Kiradech Aphibarnrat from Thailand, Japan's Shingo Katayama and Australia's Stephen Allan.
Thailand's Thaworn Wiratchant and Chawalit Plaphol along with Mamat came in with 71.
Voramate Aussarassakorn, a 16-year-old Thai, carded an impressive 69 to finish the day as the leading amateur. He recovered well after making a double bogey on the first hole.
"I was too excited on the first hole and made double bogey. I came back well. It's only the fifth time I have played in an event with professionals," said Voramate, who is part of a 10-man squad who are training for the Asian Games in China later this year.
The week's event will be showcased on OneAsia's television platform with live coverage for four hours a day across all four tournament days, and broadcast to over 260 million homes in more than 40 countries.
Full coverage of the event will be available across South East Asian and domestically on ESPN Star Sports, as well as internationally on Network Ten, Jupiter Golf Network, SBS Golf Channel, Fox International, Sky Sports NZ, ESPN3 & America One in the USA, ViaSat & Bloomberg Television among others in Europe.
This year's Thailand Open is being co-sponsored by Singha Corporation, PTT Public Company Limited, Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau (TCEB), Emirates, and CAT Telecom Public Company Limited.
