TEENAGER Rizq Adam Rohizam carded a superb opening 67 to spearhead the

Malaysian challenge in the 15th edition of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship at Taiheiyo Club Gotemba in Japan on Thursday.

Starting on the 10th tee in intermittent rain at the par-70 Gotemba course, Rizq chalked up four birdies in a scintillating first nine against just one bogey on his penultimate hole, the par-four eighth. He is well-placed in tied fifth position on three-under-par in the prestigious Championship, just two strokes behind leader Randy Bintang of Indonesia. The winner will be rewarded with an invitation to the 2025 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club and exemptions into The 153rd Open at Royal Portrush and the 129th Amateur Championship at Royal St George’s.

“I’m pretty happy with my round. My first nine was surreal – I had good birdie chances and I made most of them. The back nine wasn’t the greatest, as the putter just got cold. But I’m happy with the score I put up,”

said Rizq, a freshman at Missouri University of Science & Technology.

Ranked 677 th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, Rizq is playing in his second Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship following a missed cut in 2021 at Dubai Creek.

“It’s exciting to be in the mix here with the best players in the region, but I can’t get too excited. I’ll just go out there tomorrow, stick to the gameplan and hopefully up an even better number,” noted the 18-year-old.

The next best-placed Malaysians are Anson Yeo and Zia Iqmal Abdul Rashid in T45 position following matching two-over-par 72s, followed by Andrew Yap (T62) who shot 74 and Zubair Firdaus (T84) who carded a round of 77.

Malaysia’s top-ranked male amateur at 357th position in the WAGR, 15-year-old Yap struggled off the tee all day.

“I only hit two out of 14 fairways, so that’s definitely something I will work on later at the range. Everything else was okay.” said Yap, who missed the halfway cut in last year’s Championship at Royal Melbourne.

“The course is playing long. I don’t drive it that far and there are some long par fours where I had to hit long clubs for my second shot, like a five or four iron,” he added.

Malaysia’s best finish in the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship is seventh, achieved by Marcus Lim (Royal Melbourne Golf Club, 2023), Ervin Chang (Sentosa Golf Club, Singapore, 2018) and Mohd Iszaimi Ismail (Mission Hills Golf Club, China, 2009).

The Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship was created in 2009 as a joint initiative between the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC), the Masters Tournament and The R&A, with the aim of further developing golf in the Asia-Pacific region. Notable past competitors include Hideki Matsuyama, a two-time winner of the Asia-Pacific Amateur and the 2021 Masters champion, and Cameron Smith, champion of The 150th Open.

Collectively, alumni of the Championship have gone on to win 27 tournaments on the PGA Tour to date and more than 130 events across major professional tours. The Championship returns for the second time to Japan, which hosted the second edition of the event in 2010. Taiheiyo Club Gotemba, located at the base of Mount Fuji, is hosting the Championship for the first time.

The Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship is the most widely distributed amateur golf event across the world, with its high-definition broadcast including three hours of live coverage on each of the four competition days. A 30-minute highlight show will also be produced following the conclusion of the final round.

For more information, visit www.AACgolf.com or follow exclusive content through the Championship’s

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