Three birdies in his closing three holes saw South Africa’s James Kamte leap to the top of the Enjoy Jakarta Astro Indonesia Open as the rain-delayed first round was concluded on Friday morning.
Kamte was five under par with three holes to play when torrential rain brought a premature end to Thursday’s action, but the European Tour Qualifying School graduate returned to Cengkareng Golf Club bright and early to put the finishing touches to a superb opening score of eight under par 62.
He leads Australian David Bransdon and Joost Luiten of the Netherlands by two strokes going into round two, with a further nine players tied on five under.
Bransdon and Luiten had ignored a 50 minute rain delay to drench the Cengkareng Golf Club with birdies and take a share of the first round lead when the first round was suspended on Thursday evening.
A morning monsoon meant many of Thursday’s early starters had to leave the golf course for just under an hour, but Australian Bransdon and Dutchman Luiten ignored the sodden conditions to flood the leaderboard with red numbers, notching 15 birdies between them as they posted opening scores of six under par 64.
With the leaders safely in the clubhouse, the afternoon monsoons put paid to the first day’s play in Jakarta.
Bransdon and Luiten lead no less than ten players by a single stroke (three of whom have yet to complete their first rounds), with the Ryder Cup duo of Darren Clarke and Paul McGinley on two under par after opening 68s.
Luiten, one of Europe’s most exciting young players, was in typically fearless form as he compiled his opening score, notching eight birdies and two bogeys en route to his 64. The 22 year old is brilliant to watch on the course, going for almost every pin with irrepressible aggression.
“If I have a good chance I go for it,” said Luiten. “That’s the way I play. I want to win tournaments so you have to go for the pins. That’s what I did today and it paid off with a lot of birdies. That’s what you need to do out there.
“It was quite tough with the wind, but my putter was pretty hot today. You have to trust the wind to bring the ball back towards the target and I just hit a lot of greens, a lot of fairways and gave myself a lot of birdie opportunities.
“I think I am ready to win on The European Tour. I have been close a few times and I think that if I have a good week I can win. We’ll see what happens – the main thing is that you enjoy it every day and get yourself into contention come Sunday. That’s what we are all looking for.”
Like Luiten, Bransdon was delighted with his opening score. The Australian, who lost his European Tour card last season, would love to regain his playing privileges in the most emphatic fashion with a victory at the Enjoy Jakarta Astro Indonesia Open.
“Winning here would be a great way to change everything but we will see what happens,” smiled Bransdon. “I putted really well and drove the ball well today so it was a pretty satisfying start.
“I had a great run of birdies from the second – four in a row which got me going and put me right up there which is always nice on the first day.”
