Date: September 06, 2012
Author: Omnisport

Griffin starts with purpose

Jason Kang has jumped to the top of the leaderboard at the High1 Resort Open with a six-under 66 at the Korea-based event, while Australia&aposs Matthew Griffin shares second place. The 24-year-old American shot five birdies on the way home on Thursday, including three in a row, on his way to a one-shot lead after the first round of the OneAsia event. Kang started his round on the 10th hole, claiming his first birdie on the 12th and after dropping a shot on the 17th, he went back to one-under with another birdie on the 18th. In an impressive finish to his opening round, Kang then birdied the second, fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth holes to card his 66. Kang leads Griffin and Kim Bong-Jin of South Korea by one shot, while Han Min-Kyu and Kwon Tae-Kyu are a further stroke behind. Griffin also started on the back nine and completed a bogey-free round to finish with a five-under 67, while Kim dropped a shot on the 13th hole but six birdies saw him share second place with the Australian. After five consecutive par scores to start his tournament in the north-east of South Korea, Griffin birdied the 15th and 18th holes to set himself up for a good run home. Griffin managed consecutive birdies on the third and fourth holes and then added another on the sixth to slot in one stroke behind Kang. Kwon started on fire with three birdies in his first five holes and moved to six-under at one point in the opening round but the 41-year-old South Korean dropped three shots late on to share third with his compatriot Han. Another four Australians remain just four shots behind Kang at the High1 Country Club. David McKenzie, Scott Arnold, Rohan Blizard and Aaron Townsend all completed two-under rounds of 70.