Date: March 15, 2013
Author: Omnisport

Griffin, McKenzie leading Australians

Koumei Oda carded a round of 64 to earn the outright lead on day one of the Thailand Open as Australian pair David McKenzie and Matthew Griffin were one stroke behind. Japan&aposs Oda fired 11 birdies across 18 holes as he reached eight-under after round one at Thana City Golf and Sports Club. Australia&aposs McKenzie and Griffin were both well in contention at the close of play following their seven-under 65s in Thana City. McKenzie&aposs bogey-free round included seven birdies, while Griffin posted nine birdies during his day. South Korean duo Jung-Gon Hwang and Min-Gyu Cho, Lucas Lee of Brazil and American John Kim were also seven-under at the close of play. Australian Scott Strange posted a six-under-par 66, including nine birdies, as the dual Asian Tour winner finished a further stroke adrift on Thursday. Joining the 2009 OneAsia Tour Order of Merit winner at six-under were Thailand&aposs Wisut Artjanawat and Scotland&aposs Simon Yates. Yoshinori Fujimoto of Japan was in an 11-way tie for 11th position after producing a round of 67. Indonesian Rory Hie, Chinese duo Dong Su and Mu Hu, Japan trio Hideto Tanihara, Yasuharu Imano and Azuma Yano, Englishman Chris Wood, Irishman and three-time major winner Padraig Harrington, Filipino Juvic Pagunsan and South Korea&aposs Kyoung-Hoon Lee were also on five-under heading in round two. Further down the leaderboard, Australian&aposs Terry Pilkadaris and Jason Norris concluded round one on four-under. Meanwhile, Andre Stolz was amongst an Australian contingent that included Nick Cullen, Stephen Leaney, Peter Wilson, Brad Kennedy and Stephen Dartnall at three-under for the tournament.