After round one of the CIMB Classic there is a three way tie atop the leaderboard at 8-under par. Defending champion Justin Thomas, Keegan Bradley and Derek Fathauer all shot opening round 64s and hold a one shot lead over Paul Casey, who sits alone in 4th place.
Rounding out the Top 5 is India’s Anirban Laniri, who bogeyed the final two holes to drop to 6-under par.
Top 10
T1 Justin Thomas, Keegan Bradley, Derek Fathauer -8
4 Paul Casey -7
5 Anirban Laniri -6
T6 Sergio Garcia, Brian Harman, Aaron Baddeley, Brendan Steele -5
T10 Harold Varner III, Patrick Reed, Charles Howell III, Scott Pierce, Jamie Lovemark, Kevin Kisner -4
Other Notables
T16 Tony Finau, KJ Choi, Hideki Matsuyama -3
T26 Ernie Els, Russell Knox, Billy Hurley III, Adam Scott, Smylie Kaufman -2
T44 Daniel Berger, Ryan Moore, Ian Poulter -1
T69 Emiliano Grillo +2
Keys To Success
Thomas and Fathauer both made it through TPC Kuala Lumpur’s Amen Corner at -2 under par. Based on historical stats, this gives them each a two-stroke advantage on the field. Bradley went 2-over during this difficult stretch, but made up for it by taking advantage of the four par 5s, with an eagle and two birdies for a 4-under total.
Quotable
“Yeah, it was a good day, it was solid. If there’s such thing as an easy 8-under, it was. I wedged it great. I took advantage of the first three par 5s … just kind of went along my business today. It was a pretty low stress day.”
–Justin Thomas, Round One Leader
Video Recap
Here’s a nice three minute recap of round one from the PGA Tour media team.
Defending champ Justin Thomas is one of three co-leaders at the CIMB Classic. https://t.co/qApMgjOPD2
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 20, 2016
