KOTA KINABALU, 16 JULY 2024 – Nasrullah Zulkifli found himself in unfamiliar territory when he finished with a superb four-under 68 to share the first round lead with long-hitting Amir Nazrin in the Hilux Cup at the challenging Sabah Golf & Country Club here today.
Bunched together in third position at two-under 70 were Marcus Lim, Paul San, Fakhrul Akmal, Edven Ying and local hope Casper Loh. Alone in eighth position is Toyota Tour 2023 Order of Merit winner Ervin Chang. The Toyota Tour is organised by the Professional Golf Malaysia and delivered by MST Golf.
Nasrullah was almost in a state of denial when he finished his round. He couldn’t believe he had played his best round of golf in relation to how demanding the Sabah GCC layout is. Starting from the back nine, Nasrullah began poorly, bogeying holes 12, 13 and 14. But he then got some relief with birdies on 15 and 17 to make the turn at 1-over 37.
“I then began hitting the ball well, finding a lot of fairways and greens after crossing over,” said Nasrullah who only turned pro late last year. He found five more birdies on holes 2, 4, 5, 8 and 9 for a five-under 31 back nine score. Looking almost shell-shocked after birdieing his last hole, Nasrullah said he never thought he could play so well as to lead the field in a Toyota Tour event.
After turning pro last year, Nasrullah missed the cut in his first event won by Gavin Green at Palm Garden and then made the cut in his next Toyota Tour event coincidentally won by Green’s younger brother Galven.
“I’m going to get a good rest and not think too much about my game today,” added Nasrullah in an almost apologetic way. “Just stick to my game plan of finding fairways and greens and hoping for the ball to drop into the cup.”
Amir was quite satisfied with his game despite starting with a bogey five on his opening hole. He eagled the very next hole and then played conservatively, adding three more birdies without dropping any more shots along the way.
Local favourites Ben Leong finished at even par while defending champion Nicholas Fung struggled to a two-over 74.
Sabah GCC member Aretha Pan had a poor first round in the Ladies Championship, finishing 10-over on a course playing long due to soggy fairways. “I couldn’t get my game going in the first nine,” said Pan, the 2023 Ladies Order of Merit champion. She straightened the ship on the back nine and seemed pleased with a 1-over 37.
Geraldine Wong shot a 5-over 77 to lead by two from Durriyah Damian. “The course is tough for us and the soggy conditions make it hard for us to reach the long par 4s, ” said Wong. In third pacing at 9-over 81 is Kedahan Jocelyn Chee. Only eight men played under par while Isaac To was the best amateur at 1-over 73. He leads Anson Yeo and Maxwin Chew by three strokes.
Leading Rd 1 scores (Men)
68 Nasrullah Zulkifli, Amir Nazrin
70 Casper Loh, Marcus Lim, Paul San, Fakhrul Akmal, Edven Ying
71 Ervin Chang
72 Ben Leong, Faisal Sabudin, R Nachimuthu, Wilson Choo, Kenneth De Silva, Brandon Lai
Ladies
77 Geraldine Wong
79 Durriyah Damian
81 Jocelyn Chee
82 Aretha Pan
84 Vivienne Chin