HUA HIN, Thailand: A relaxed Angelo Que made a welcome return to form to share the first round lead with Japanese duo Tetsuji Hiratsuka and Daisuke Maruyama at the Black Mountain Masters here Thursday. The Filipino brilliantly fired two eagles, four birdies and a lone bogey at the Black Mountain Golf Club for a seven-under-par 65 which was matched by his Japanese rivals in the Asian Tour's $600,000 season finale. South Korea's Lee Sung, who was born deaf but recently had an implant surgically placed in his right hear to help with his hearing, shot a 66 to share third with big-hitting local star Chapchai Nirat, countryman Atthaphon Prathummanee, India's Himmat Rai, England's Simon Griffiths and American Anthony Kang on a day of low scoring. Three-time Order of Merit winner Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand, fresh off a victory in Cambodia Sunday, rued a cold putter after carding a 68 to trail by three shots while defending champion Johan Edfors of Sweden stumbled to a 74. A blazing finish with four closing birdies put Hiratsuka in the hunt for his third Asian Tour victory of the season. His compatriot Maruyama, who finished 15th on the Japan Tour money list this year, was bogey free and got lucky on the second hole, which he eagled. Rain causes havoc In Durban, persistent rain caused havoc on the first day of the South African Open as organizers were forced to abandon play with half the field still to tee off Thursday. Only six players were able to complete nine holes of their first round before the increasingly waterlogged course became unplayable. Five players shared the lead at two under when play was stopped. Twice major winner Retief Goosen made a fast start as the South African birdied two of his first four holes. Briton David Drysdale, Denmark's Thorbjorn Olesen and the South African duo of Martin Maritz and Divan van den Heever were the others on two-under. Organizers announced a late start Friday to give the greenkeepers more time to work on the course. “The key is to get 36 holes in because that constitutes a tournament,” tournament director Gary Todd told reporters. “We will finish round one Friday and start round two Saturday. Once we have completed round two we will make a cut and, depending what the weather is like Sunday, it will either be a 36-hole final round with a limited field or a 54-hole round with a full cut.” Todd refused to rule out a Monday finish but he was cautious as to whether the tournament would be pushed into an extra day. – Agence France
