Seongnam: Local hopefuls Lee Tae-Hee and Lee Kyeong-Jun shared the opening round lead with Choi Go-Woong and Lee Sung-Ho after they signed for matching four-under-par 67s at the Maekyung Open Golf Championship yesterday.
The quartet held a slender one-shot advantage over Seo Yo-Seop, who returned with a bogey-free round at the fabled Namseoul Country Club to ensure a strong local presence atop the leaderboard where 18 of the top-24 players are Koreans.
Kim Jong-Duck, a former winner of the Maekyung Open in 1994, was among the six players, which included two local amateurs, bunched in sixth place on 69s. The 57-year-old Korean is a nine-time winner on the local circuit and a four-time champion on the Japan Golf Tour.
Thailand's Phachara Khongwatmai and Poom Pattaropong were tied 12th with 11 other players on one-under 70, three shots off behind the leaders at the event, which is co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and the Korea Golf Association.
Poom nailed three birdies in his opening six holes to grab a share of the early lead but found himself trailing by one after adding another birdie on the 15th hole.
Poom, unfortunately, slipped further back with a triple-bogey on 16, which was the only blemish in his near-perfect round. He bounced back by draining a 25-foot birdie putt on the last to sign for a 70.
Defending champion Park Sang-Hyun returned with a 72 to trail by five shots in the US$1.067 million event, which is celebrating its 38th edition this week.
