Ace Bangladesh golfer Siddikur Rahman got off to a reasonable start in the Mercuries Taiwan Masters at the Taiwan Golf and Country Club yesterday.
The 27-year-old golfer, who had missed two cuts in a month alone largely due to bad starts in windy conditions, overcame his demons yesterday to finish the round in joint 13th position after a par score of 72.
But the day’s success story came from unheralded golfer Lien Chi-wei of Chinese Taipei, who pulled off an astonishing six-under par 66 in windy conditions to run away with the lead. The big surprise was the four-stroke difference between Lien and the five players tied for second spot — Hsieh Chi-hsien, Wang Shih-jui, Lin Wen-tang from Chinese Taipei; Baek Seuk-hyun of Korea and Antonio Lascuna and Angelo Que of the Phillipines — each of whom finished with two-under-par 70.
In light of the big difference between the first- and second-placed players, Siddikur’s first round finish of an even-par 72 should give cause for optimism that he is perhaps dealing with the windy conditions better than he had in the recent past.
Lien’s extraordinary performance may not be repeated over the following rounds and there may be changes to the leaderboard positions, but Siddikur will have to keep battling the conditions if he is to turn around a season that has derailed a bit of late.
-With The Daily Star input
