Khalin Joshi, Casey O'Toole Share Honours at Taifong Open Golf
Khalin Joshi is enjoying a good run of form after finishing tied second in Bangladesh on the Asian Tour in May.
Khalin Joshi of India and Casey O'Toole of the United States fired matching six-under-par 66s to share the opening round lead at the Taifong Open on Thursday.
Joshi and O'Toole continued their fine form as they grabbed a one-shot lead over Rory Hie of Indonesia, David Gleeson of Australia and local stalwart Lin Wen-tang at the USD 160,000 Asian Development Tour (ADT) event.
Itthipat Buranatanyarat of Thailand, who won his first ADT title in April, was a further shot back in sixth place alongside Jordan Sheratt of Australia at the Taifong Golf Club.
The 22-year-old Joshi rode on a hot putter where he holed 23 putts highlighted by three closing birdies. The talented Indian is enjoying a good run of form after finishing tied second in Bangladesh on the Asian Tour in May. He also challenged for a first ADT title in Bali last month before settling for tied sixth place.
"My putter has let me down in the last few events but I've been training hard and it is starting to pay off. I was very confident on the greens I think I'll have a good week if the putter and ball striking hold up," said Joshi.
Playing in his first round of competitive golf in slightly over a month, O'Toole struggled early in the round before hitting four straight birdies from the 15th hole. He added two more birdies on 16 and 18 to share the lead.
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The American, ranked ninth on the ADT Order of Merit, is aiming for a breakthrough win this week after securing two third place finishes and four top-10 results so far this year.
Since it was inaugurated in 2010, the ADT has grown from five events in the first year to a record 21 tournaments in 2014. The ADT has announced a provisional 2015 schedule of a minimum 24 tournaments with several more to be announced in due course.
The ADT will continue to reward the top-five finishers on the Order of Merit at the end of this season with Asian Tour cards for 2016.
With the Olympic Games looming in 2016 where golf will be reintroduced as a medal sport, players in the region could earn their spots in Rio de Janeiro by earning Official World Golf Ranking points through the Asian Tour and ADT.
(Inputs courtesy the Asian Tour)