Veteran Chen grabs early lead at Hangzhou International

SHINE

Chen Dinggen's game proved as hot as the Zhejiang summer on Thursday as the Chinese veteran carded a 9-under-par 63 for a two-shot lead following the first round of the Hangzhou International Championship.

With the temperature hovering around 35 degrees Celsius at Moganshan Gowin Golf Club, Yuan Tian was alone in second after a 65 at the 1.2-million yuan (US$180,000) tournament featuring the men of the China Tour in stroke-play competition against the ladies of the CLPGA Tour.

Fan Shuangshuang proved the best among the females as the rookie pro carded a 6-under 66 to sit equal third with Tommy Cao Senshou.

An Tong, a two-time winner on the China junior circuit this year, was the top amateur as the Tianjin girl shot a 68 to sit equal fifth with China Tour veteran He Shaocai and CLPGA Tour regulars Yan Panpan, Pan Yanhong, Zhang Yunjie and Cai Danlin.

Chen began his early morning round on the Moganshan Gowin back nine and came out firing with three consecutive birdies to start. After carding birdies on holes 14, 16 and 18 to make the turn at 6-under, he picked up three more strokes on his back nine (the front nine) in his bogey-free round.

"In such hot weather my original idea was to finish my game. I haven't played for a long time. I'm very happy to be back on the course. I also saw a lot of old friends," said the 42-year-old from Jiangxi Province.

"Today, I had to do well in driving, irons on the green and putting. Physical strength is the biggest test I am facing this week. I have been adjusting my mood during the game. Don't be too happy and face each hole with a calm heart. The next step is to try your best to do a good job on every shot."

Yuan, a 40-year-old from Hunan Province, carded five consecutive birdies starting at the 13th hole but stumbled at the last with a bogey six, one of two he would card during his round.

"My short clubs performed very well. Basically, this round, every birdie I caught was the ball at the edge of the hole," he said.

"There were birdies in a row in the first nine holes and the back nine holes respectively, which made me feel more confident. My goal for the next three days is to hit every shot well."

Fan, who was equal fourth at the CLPGA Tour Qualifying Tournament in January, impressed in her pro debut with a round that included five birdies, a bogey and an eagle two at the 259-yard 13th hole where she drove the green and converted a 35-foot putt.

"The quality of the greens is very good, and there are many opportunities to catch birdies, but we should also be careful of mistakes," said the 17-year-old from Chongqing. "I didn't think I'd get the eagle. All I did was get the ball as close to the hole as possible, but luckily it went in.

"This is my first tournament since turning pro. I didn't have any expectations before my round, but I played better than expected. There were no big mistakes throughout the day, and saving the ball was better than before."