Fraser sets pace as big guns give chase

Marcus Fraser

Marcus Fraser set the clubhouse lead at the Ballantine’s Championship in Korea on Thursday (22 April) after the first round was interrupted by fog.

The Australian carded a seven-under-par 65 to lead by one stroke from playing partner Mark Foster in the €2.2 million event at Pinx Golf Club on the island of Jeju.

When play finished for the day, only 36 players had completed the first round.

Just a few holes were possible in the morning before play was suspended for more than six hours as fog shrouded the course.

When it resumed, Fraser was quickly into his stride and tamed Pinx's par-72 layout with an impressive bogey-free display.

"I'm very pleased," he said. "I feel like I drove it very well and putted really well. I gave myself a lot of chances on the greens and managed to make a few birdies.

"I made a long putt for birdie on No.8, holed it from about 35 feet, and that kept the round going. I managed to get a few more throughout the round."

Fraser's best finish this season was joint 11th at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic. His lone European Tour win came seven years ago at the BMW Russian Open.

He said playing with Foster had brought out the best in both of them. "Mark got off to a great start so I just tried to keep up. We sort of kept managing to pull each other along."

Englishman Foster carded a six-under 66 to lie in second place while Ted Oh flew the flag for Korea with a 67 and was joined on five-under by Australia's Rick Kulacz (who completed 17 holes) and Welshman Jamie Donaldson (16 holes).

Of the tournament's big guns, PGA Tour star Anthony Kim and three-time Major winner Ernie Els both carded four-under 68s.

Kim, who started on the 10th, birdied the par-five ninth to cap a good day's work. "I stayed patient and I'm happy with how I played, I just didn't score very well," he said.

"It's going to be a long day tomorrow for the guys in front of us and we're just going to hang in there and wait until we can go play some golf.

"The greens were very slow today. My last tournament was the Masters, so the greens were very fast there and here it's slow. So it's a little bit of an adjustment but hopefully I can do better tomorrow."

Els had five birdies against a lone bogey and was pleased with his opening effort. "I'm happy to get it done, it was a long day," said the world No.7.

"Tomorrow, if there's no wind like now, you can really attack the golf course, so all depends on the weather."

Other stars at the Ballantine's Championship include Asia's first Major champion YE Yang and six-time European Tour winner Henrik Stenson.

The tournament is once again co-sanctioned by the European Tour, Asian Tour and Korea PGA.