Tom McKibbin of Northern Ireland is in the lead by one stroke after the Singapore Classic on the DP World Tour’s opening round.
The 20-year-old shot eight birdies in a flawless 64 to set the pace at Laguna National Golf Resort Club. He is a native of the same Holywood Golf Club where Rory McIlroy began his professional career.
After picking up a stroke at the 11th and taking advantage of the par-five 13th on the back nine, McKibbin went on a five-hole streak of four birdies starting at the par-five 18th.
That was some opening round @tommckibbin8 👏#SingaporeClassic pic.twitter.com/mZ343Lg9XP
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) February 9, 2023
Additional birdies at the seventh and ninth holes completed a flawless card, allowing him to set the clubhouse goal at eight under, one shot ahead of Sami Valimaki and Matthieu Pavon in the group of four players.
McKibbin commented, “I played good golf, with a little bit of luck here and there. Seeing a round like that was good because it hasn’t been far in the past several weeks.”
“I’ve played with Rory [McIlroy] a lot; I’ve had the opportunity to watch him play, and playing with him has helped me gauge the state of my game. It has been beneficial for me to spend time with him.”
Is anyone else in Singapore who stood out?
While Valimaki produced an eagle and five birdies in a stretch of seven holes before missing a shot on his penultimate hole, Pavon reached eight under after four birdies in five holes starting from the third before bogeying his final hole of the day.
“Overall, it was satisfactory,” according to Pavon. “My lone bogey occurred on the ninth hole, which we were aware was a difficult one. I slightly misjudged my drive and got into problems in the left trap. I made an effort to end with a fantastic four, but the putt and read were both poor. I only made five, but otherwise, everything was excellent.”
The English combo of Paul Waring and Nathan Kimsey are both within two strokes of the early lead, while the Swedish pairing of Joakim Lagergren and Simon Forsstrom finish the round on seven under par after combining eight birdies and a bogey.
Ryan Fox, the top-ranked golfer in the field, overcame a quadruple bogey at the par-four 12th to salvage a level-par 72, while James Morrison recorded a hole-in-one at the par-three fourth and was five under after seven holes.
Robert MacIntyre finished the day with a double-bogey to finish at two over par, and Marcel Siem of Germany tied him with the same score in his 500th DP World Tour start.
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