KUNMING, 1 Sept 2016, (HK Golfer News Wire) - Hak shot a career-best, 8-under 63 - including a back-nine 29 - to take a one-shot lead over Paul Imondi at the Yulongwan Yunnan Open. Order of Merit leader Zecheng Dou is among a quartet of players two behind, after opening 65s.
Hak, who shot a 4-under 67 and was the medalist at the open-qualifying event on Monday, had a clean scorecard in what is only his fourth start of the season. Playing Yulongwan Golf Club’s back nine first, Hak had four birdies and an eagle to start his day, the eagle coming at the par-5 13th hole. He then added two additional bogeys to go with seven pars to finish his round.
“It was so rainy this afternoon, and the temperature changed so fast that in these conditions, minus-8 makes me feel satisfied,” Hak explained after his round. “My irons were pretty good today, so I not only had a lot of birdie chances, I made my putts.”
Hak had two good eagle putts in his opening round, missing a 15-footer at No. 3 and making a nine-footer at No. 13. “I was just really relaxed today,” Hak continued, noting that the real pressure he felt this week came Monday when he was vying for one of four open spots just to get into the tournament. “Now, I’ll just move forward, forget today and try to do the same things for the following three days.”
Hak, 22, played one year of collegiate golf, at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, before turning pro. His previous-best PGA TOUR China finish was a tie for 21st at the weather-shortened Lanhai Open. During his opening round, Hak had several chances to go even lower than he did, but he parred his final six holes.
Despite making bogeys at Nos. 2 and 5 to start his round, Imondi, currently No. 10 on the Order of Merit, had five front-nine birdies to go with three more on the back nine - along with an eagle. Earlier this year, in Shanghai, Imondi shared the first-round lead before eventually tying for 15th.
During the break, Imondi played a lot of golf, the highlight a tie for fourth at the Long Beach Open in California where he missed by a stroke getting into the Garrett Sapp-Sam Saunders-David Gazzolo playoff won by Sapp, a PGA TOUR China regular.
Imondi remembered Yulongwan Golf Club well, noting solid success in the first round in 2015 before he withdrew during his second round due to illness. Last year, Imondi opened with a 5-under 67 when the course played as a par-72.
“I’m familiar with the course. It’s pretty open off the tee, and the greens are good. I made a ton of putts today, which was nice,” observed Imondi. The made putts came early and often, although Imondi was still kicking himself about his par-5 bogey on No. 5.
“That was kind of silly,” he said of a hole that began when he hit his drive into the rough. His 5-iron approach landed in a bunker, 30 yards from the hole. He chunked his shot from the sand, leaving his ball well short of the pin. From there he three-putted.
The rest of his round was anything but silly. Even with a bogey on No. 17, after a poor tee shot on the par-3, Imondi came back with a lob-wedge approach that he stuck to 18 feet. He then poured in the putt for the 64—his second consecutive 64. At the Ping An Private Bank Wanda Open, Imondi shot a 64 in the final round. His low round this season was a 9-under 63 in the third round of the Cadillac Championship.