Published July 17, 2008 on October 11, 2018

Burgoon Takes First Round Lead of CIMB Classic

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Bronson Burgoon of the United States made an impressive debut in the US$7 million CIMB Classic registering a remarkable 9-under 63 score for a one-stroke lead over Austin Cook while Chinese Taipei’s C.T. Pan, Scott Piercy and Billy Horschel, the 2014 FedEx Cup champion, were a further shot back in tied third place.

Burgoon who started on the back nine bogeyed the 13th hole before recovering with three straight birdies and holed-out for eagle from the greenside bunker on the 18th hole. He added five more birdies in his last nine holes to equal his career’s low round in relation to par. He previously shot a 9-under 62 at the John Deere Classic.

Burgoon said, “I drove it well and I putted pretty good, so it was kind of, I mean, it was boring golf, but that’s always a good thing. I chipped in for eagle out of the bunker on my ninth hole, which kind of boosted me, then I kept going. It definitely wasn’t flawless golf, but I’ve been playing pretty good. I took quite a bit of time off after the Playoffs and last week I was pretty rusty, but I felt it kind of coming. You have to putt well to play well. I typically drive it pretty good, so when I putt, I play pretty good.”

Burgoon who opened the 2018-19 PGA TOUR Season with a T53 at the Safeway Open last week said that the West Course of TPC Kuala Lumpur reminded him of golf courses on the Latinoamerica Tour, very hilly and enjoyable. Burgoon finished the 2017-18 PGA TOUR Season 78^th in the FedExCup standings. He had two top-10s finishes, including a season-best T2 at the 2018 John Deere Classic.

Asian Tour’s Shubhankar Sharma of India turned his fortunes around with a solid back-nine 31 as he returned with a five-under-par 67 to trail Burgoon by four shots. Sharma, the current Habitat for Humanity Standings leader, turned in 36 before shooting five birdies on his homeward nine to sit in tied 14th place in his first appearance at the event sanctioned by the Asian Tour and PGA TOUR at TPC Kuala Lumpur.

The 22-year-old Sharma, a two-time Asian Tour winner, continued to impress in the country where he tasted success in February. He got off to a slow start but bounced back brilliantly with five birdies in the last nine holes.

World number four Justin Thomas, a two-time CIMB Classic champion, shot a 66 to tie in sixth place with eight other players including Nick Watney, who won the event in 2012, Major champion Louis Oosthuizen, Byeonghun An of Korea and Ryder Cup winner Paul Casey.

Malaysia’s Ben Leong fired a 68 to tie in 20th place while nine-time Asian Tour winner Gaganjeet Bhullar of India and Kiradech Aphibarnrat of Thailand, the 2013 Asian Tour number one, shared 26th place after shooting matching 69s.

Leong said, “I didn’t get off to a great start. Told myself we have a couple more days to go and just take my time and stay patient. Took one shot at a time and managed to recover.”

Danny Lee shot his third career hole-in-one on the par-3 fourth hole with a 9-iron from 145 yards.

 

Scores after round 1 of the CIMB Classic being played at the par 72, 7005 Yards TPC Kuala Lumpur course (am – denotes amateur):

63 – Bronson Burgoon (USA).

64 – Austin Cook (USA).

65 – Scott Piercy (USA), Billy Horschel (USA), C.T. Pan (TPE).

66 – Nick Watney (USA), Emiliano Grillo (ARG), Kevin Chappell (USA), Justin Thomas (USA), Louis Oosthuizen (RSA), Joel Dahmen (USA), Byeonghun An (KOR), Paul Casey (ENG).

67 – Chesson Hadley (USA), Abraham Ancer (MEX), Siwoo Kim (KOR), J.B. Holmes (USA), Shubhankar Sharma (IND), Scott Stallings (USA).

68 – Ernie Els (RSA), Stewart Cink (USA), Kevin Na (USA), Marc Leishman (AUS), Ryan Palmer (USA), Ben Leong (MAS).

69 – Gaganjeet Bhullar (IND), Whee Kim (USA), Danny Lee (NZL), Ryan Armour (USA), Cameron Smith (AUS), Kiradech Aphibarnrat (THA), Charles Howell III (USA), Gary Woodland (USA), Xander Schauffele (USA).