The first-ever Asian Tour event in Bangladesh, the 300,000 US Dollars "Basundhara Bangladesh (BB) Open 2015", began Wednesday at Kurmitola Golf Course in the capital featuring a dismal performance by Bangladesh's premier golfer Siddikur Rahman, reports UNB.
In all, 156 leading golfers from 24 countries of the world including a record 31 players from hosts Bangladesh are taking part in the four-round 72-hole tournament, sponsored by local leading business house "Basundhara Group".
Bangladesh's celebrated golfer Siddikur Rahman, a two-time Asian Tour winner, fired a disappointing 72 on his home course and jointly shared the 33rd place along with 17 other golfers.
He will need to produce a superlative performance to challenge for his National Open title.
"I won't do anything differently. This is not an easy course. The rough is long and the key is to find fairways and greens. I'm not disappointed with my first round scores. I need to motivate myself to do better," said the Bangladeshi.
Singaporean veteran Mardan Mamat battled to a five-under-par 66 to share the clubhouse lead with Casey O'Toole of the United States in the opening round.
Mardan, a four-time Asian Tour winner, stayed patient despite two weather delays to take his place atop the leaderboard with six birdies at the event staged at the challenging Kurmitola Golf Club.
O'Toole, an Asian Development Tour (ADT) regular, birdied all the par-fives to tie for the lead in his first ever Asian Tour event while India's Amardip Malik and Carlos Pigem of Spain trailed by one shot in third place.
Janne Kaske of Finland, who won his first title on the ADT two weeks ago, placed sixth alongside Indians Sanjay Kumar and Sujjan Singh on matching 68s. Popular Bangladeshi Siddikur Rahman stumbled to a disappointing 72 to trail the early pacesetters by six shots.
The first round of the Bashundhara Bangladesh Open was suspended at 6.50 pm due to fading light. A total of 30 players will return today (Thursday) at 6.25am to resume their rounds.
Two weeks after finishing third in Maurtius, Mardan, who rates the Kurmitola course as one of his favourite golf courses, put his experience to good use as he overcame the windy and rainy conditions.
"This golf course suits my game a lot. It isn't a power golf course but more a thinking course. You have to keep the ball in play and hit it straight. This is the type of golf course which I like to play on," said Mardan.
