SINGAPORE - A lightning storm cut short the first round of the Singapore Open Thursday after three-time champion Adam Scott tumbled down the leaderboard with a triple-bogey. The Singapore Open has been regularly interrupted by Southeast Asia's fickle weather in recent years and almost half of the 156 entrants were unable to complete the opening round after bolts of lightning lit up the sky around the Sentosa Golf Club. Play was stopped for two-and-a-half hours and although the players briefly returned to the course in a vain effort to finish, play was abandoned for the day when it became too dark to continue the opening event of this year's Asian Tour. Hideto Tanihara and Satoshi Kodaira, both of Japan, and South Korea's Kang Kyung-nam shared the clubhouse lead at six-under par 65. Tanihara, a three-time winner of the Japan Tour last year, made a flying start when he birdied his first two holes after starting at the 10th, and finished with seven birdies and a lone bogey. He was joined in the lead by Kang, who made an eagle-three at the fourth hole and iced his flawless round with a birdie at the last. They both got the best of the early conditions, completing their rounds before the storm rolled in, while Kodaira was among the late starters, but made birdies on three of the last four holes to finish in a three-way tie for the lead. Malaysia's Gavin Green, Korean-born American Han Seung-su and Thailand's Pavit Tangkamolprasertwere tied for fourth at five under with South Africa's Shaun Norris and Japan's Tadahiro Takayama a further shot back. The tournament's three biggest drawcards, Scott, Ernie Els and Sergio Garcia, all struggled at various times in the stifling humidity, that even the local wildlife found uncomfortable, with organizers forced to remove a cobra that had slithered into a sand trap. Scott got off to a great start when he birdied three of his first six holes but the Australian made a triple-bogey eight when he found the water on the seventh. He dropped another shot at the eighth but made back-to-back birdies when play resumed to reach one under after 15 holes. Els had a frustrating day. The South African slumped to three over after 10 holes before finally making his first birdie at the 16th to be two-over with two holes to play, throwing his arms in the air in relief. Garcia failed to make the most of the perfect morning conditions as he signed for a level-par 71. Stenson leads in Abu Dhabi Henrik Stenson chipped in from 30 yards and had seven more birdies Thursday to open the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship with an 8-under 64 in his first competitive round of 2017. Showing no rustiness from an offseason of little practice, the fourth-ranked Stenson led by two strokes midway through the first round. Three-time winner Martin Kaymer, Oliver Fisher, Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Marc Warren were next. - Agencies
