Local amateur takes early lead in Taiwan Masters tournament

Local amateur Chen Ming-tsuan (陳銘傳) yesterday emerged as the surprise leader in the opening round at the US$500,000 Mercuries Taiwan Masters, firing a four-under-par 68.

The 20-year-old Chen overcame tough conditions at the Taiwan Golf and Country Club to finish the day with a two-stroke lead over compatriots Lu Wei-chih (呂偉智) and Hsu Mong-nan (許孟男), and South Africa's Hendrik Buhrmann.

Malaysia's Danny Chia enjoyed one of his best starts this season, three strokes off the lead at 71 along with local player Chen Jung-hsing (陳榮興), who is the leader's coach.

Ted Oh of South Korea also shot a 71, along with Filipino Artemio Murakami, the winner last month in Malaysia, and Englishman Chris Rodgers.

Chen, who has two amateur wins this year, tackled the tricky greens with solid putting and said he was pleased to be setting the pace in his first appearance here.

"This is a pleasant surprise for me to be taking the lead. I only played seven holes before today and hardly got the feel of the course this week. But I was really consistent on the greens and that was the key for me," Chen said.

"I will not think about my position heading into the second round because if I can play like how I did today, then I know I'll be in a good position," he said.

Chen began learning to play golf at the age of 10 when his father took him out on the course with him.

The student at the National College of Physical Education and Sports in Taipei has had an impressive amateur record this year, winning the Taiwan amateur title in July and at the World University Games in Bangkok in August.

Lu, the winner here in 2005, said he was pleased to be tied for second place, explaining that he believed the narrow fairways and tricky greens had played to his advantage.

"This has been my home course for a long time and I'm quite used to the conditions. My putting was not consistent but I was driving it straight off the tee which led to a steady score today," Lu said.