Malaysian amateur Mirabel Ting carded a superb five-under-par 67 under blistering conditions to be the best-placed Malaysian in joint 11th position following the first round of the Maybank Championship.
The Florida State University junior tallied six birdies against one bogey on the challenging West Course of Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club, finishing four shots behind Japan’s Mao Saigo, who set the pace with a blistering nine-under-par 63.
Saigo's remarkable round puts her one stroke ahead of Korea’s Hae Ran Ryu, while China’s Ruixin Liu and Wei-Ling Hsu of Chinese Taipei are tied for third, just two shots further back.
“I felt pretty comfortable starting off today and kept reminding myself to stay patient,” said Ting, who posted four of her six birdies on the front nine.
“After the 10th, the putts weren’t really dropping, and I started to get a bit impatient, but I managed to push through,” she added.
Ting’s only blemish came at the par-five 10th, but she recovered with birdies at the 14th and 18th holes, thrilling the local crowd as she finished on a high note.
“I was nervous coming into the 18th, but the support from the crowd really helped despite the nerves,” she shared.
The next best Malaysian was Paris 2024 Olympian Ashley Lau, who carded a one-over-par 73 to sit in a tie for 66th place. The Epson Tour player recorded four birdies but offset them with five bogeys, joining a group that includes Korea’s Jin Hee Im and Jenny Shin, as well as Ireland’s Leona Maguire.
“I made a few wrong club choices midway through and didn’t convert my putts to make enough birdies to compensate,” Lau explained, though she remains optimistic for the rounds ahead.
“I’m going to keep giving myself the same chances tomorrow and hope the putts will drop,” she added.
Malaysian ASEAN Qualifiers Durriyah Damian and Liyana Durisic struggled, returning rounds of 78 and 79 to finish in 76th and 77th place, respectively.
“My short game was off today, even though I hit the ball pretty solid,” said Durriyah, who recently returned to professional competition after a hiatus.
Rookie professional Durisic, with her brother on the bag, is eager to learn from her opening round and improve moving forward.
“I’ll go over the round with my brother, hole by hole, and see where I can make adjustments,” she said.
Be sure to catch all the excitement and support the local stars during the Maybank Championship this weekend, taking place from October 24 to 27.
Complimentary entries are available for children under 12, as well as Maybank Cardholders (Debit, Credit & Charge Cards) and MAE App users.
For more information and ticket bookings, visit http://www.maybank.com/championship
