Lam shines as big names falter
Padraig Harrington and Phil Mickelson failed to sparkle at the Barclays Singapore Open on Thursday allowing local player Lam Chih Bing to steal the limelight in the weather-interrupted opening round.
World number five Harrington bogeyed his final hole for a one-over 72, while world number three Mickelson opened with an up-and-down 73 at Sentosa Golf Club.
With the big names faltering, Lam took control of the US$5million Asian Tour event with a four-under 67 in soggy conditions.
The 31-year-old teed off on the back nine at the Serapong course and made an excellent start with a birdie on his first hole and three in four just before the turn.
He was four under and three strokes ahead of the rest of the field after 13 holes when play was suspended at 12:05pm because of a lightning storm.
On resumption two hours and 10 minutes later, he dropped his only shot of the day when he missed a 20-footer for par at the fifth, but a birdie on the eighth put him back on four under to give him the clubhouse lead midway through the opening round.
Australia's Marcus Both is in second place after firing a 68 that featured four birdies and a lone bogey, with Austria's Markus Brier, Korea's Charlie Wi and China's Zhang Lian-wei a further shot back on two under.
