After the drawing ceremony on Friday, the 107^th ranked Thai is to take on the hard-hitting American  who sent her packing 6-4 6-3 in the round of 64 last year.

The Thai leads the American 2-1 in their head-to-head series with two wins coming from hard-court events in Auckland 2013 and Osaka in 2014.

The bad news is Luksika has been in dismal run this year, winning only one out of 10 matches.

The 17-year-old Korean, who held the overnight one-shot lead, only managed to finish 15 holes before play was abandoned for the day at 7.16pm due to fading light at the RM 225,000 (US$54,000) Asian Development Tour (ADT) event.

A total of 11 players will resume their third rounds at 7.30am on Saturday morning at the Tiara Melaka Golf and Country Club with the final round scheduled to start no earlier than 8.30am.

Kim, who joined the play-for-pay ranks in 2018, enjoys a three-shot lead with three more holes to play in his third round.  Local talent Sukree Othman moved to second place as he goes six-under for the day with one hole left to play.

Thailand’s Chinnarat Phadungsil carded a six-under-par 66 after trading eight birdies against two bogeys. He lies in third place five shots off the pace with Fiji’s Sam Lee, who is four-under with one more hole to go.

Kim, who set the course ablaze with a stunning 63 in the second round, extended his hot form with three birdies in his opening nine holes to make the turn in 33. He went on to nail birdies on hole 10 and 13 before play was called off.

“I started off with two good holes after making birdie putts inside five feet. It was another stress-free round today thanks to my short game and I was hitting it much better,” said Kim, who is a two-time winner on the Philippine Golf Tour.

“I made a good par save on hole five from the bunker which was my best shot of the day and two more birdies before it got dark. Overall I am in good position but I don’t want to think about it because there is another day tomorrow and it is not over till it’s over.

“I have been in this position a couple of times already this season, hopefully it will be my time tomorrow,” added the young Korean, who is based in Thailand.

Leading third round scores (incomplete):

-17 – Joohyung Kim 69 63

-14 – Sukree Othman 70 66

-12 – Chinnarat Phadungsil 70 68 66, Sam Lee 70 66

“Feels like one year came by in a flash,” said the 20-year-old Hataoka, who returns to Pinnacle Country Club with two more wins under her belt, including her most recent from the 2019 Kia Classic. “I’m definitely full of confidence and have also been able to contend at the Majors as well.”

Along with the win, Hataoka has had two runner-up finishes this season, and had a top-15 finish at last week’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. As one of number of young golfers on Tour, she said she does not feel like the only one on top of her game.

“There are great players like Brooke [Henderson] and Minjee [Lee], also rising stars, so it just feels like I’m competing against them every week,” said Hataoka.

This week, Hataoka is most looking forward to stepping out on the course again. “I like the golf course here. It reminds me of the courses back home in Japan,” said Hataoka. “I have a good image about this golf course. For this week I’m going to try to focus on my own game.”

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT DEFENDING CHAMPION NASA HATAOKA

• Hataoka shot a final-round 63 at the 2018 Walmart NWA Championship presented by P&G en route to setting the 54-hole tournament scoring record at -21
• Hataoka’s victory at the 2018 Walmart NWA Championship was the first of her LPGA Tour career; her following wins were the 2018 TOTO Japan Classic and 2019 Kia Classic
• Hataoka is a three-time winner on the LPGA Tour, joining fellow Japanese player Haru Nomura at that mark; the only Japanese players with more victories are Ayako Okamoto (17), Ai Miyazato (nine) and Hiromi Kobayashi (four)
• Hataoka is currently No. 5 on the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings; the highest position she’s held was No. 4 after rising three spots for her win at the 2019 Kia Classic
• Hataoka is the youngest winner on the 2019 season at 20 years, 2 months and 18 days
• In 2019, Hataoka has made ten starts; in addition to her win, she has two runner-up finishes (Pure Silk Championship presented by Visit Williamsburg and Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give) and a T15 finish at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship

GABY LOPEZ HAPPY TO BE AT HOME

Gaby Lopez returns to Pinnacle Country Club for her seventh start of the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G, this year, as a winner on the LPGA Tour. Lopez became a Rolex First-Time Winner at the 2018 Blue Bay LPGA and since then, has made two top-5 finishes and two top-10 finishes on the season and looks to continue the strong trend to her game.

“It’s been a solid season. Coming into this week I just feel that, I know this golf course pretty well. Just kind of relaxed out there, being able to feel calm and just enjoy really much the experience again to be able to represent the Razorbacks here at home,” said Lopez. “I ask a lot of LPGA players around ‘What’s your favorite event?’ and lots of them they say ‘Arkansas’ just by how welcoming the community is and how special this week means to all of them.”

Lopez is one of six Razorback in this week’s field, the most players from the University of Arkansas’ collegiate program in the championship’s 13-year history.

“I’m super excited to be able to share especially this week with Alana [Uriell], Dylan [Kim], Kaylee [Benton], Maria [Fassi], Stacy [Lewis], being able to share this scenario with such an amazing environment. I don’t think we get this environment in a lot of places,” said Lopez. “Being able to play with six college players, including Stacy and everyone out here is just very supportive to being able to cheer with the Razorbacks, and I’m happy and blessed to be part of this amazing group of young girls.”

2017 VICTORY IN ARKANSAS WAS A GIFT FOR SO YEON RYU

LPGA winner So Yeon Ryu claimed her fifth victory at the 2017 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G, winning by two strokes over Amy Yang and Moriya Jutanugarn. The win propelled Ryu to the No. 1 spot on the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, which she held for 19 consecutive weeks.

“Ever since I decided to become professional golfer, I always wanted to become No. 1 in the world, and then this tournament just brought me to the gift. It’s huge gift,” said Ryu, who set 18, 36 and 54-hole tournament scoring records en route to victory in 2017. “This tournament helped me out to achieve my dreams and then those dreams came true at this place. Just having all those feelings here is very special and then hopefully I can win again at this tournament. That would be even more special.”

Ryu experienced challenges as soon as she reached the No.1 spot but she used the experience to manage her own expectations and set new goals in her game.

“I guess when I was No. 1 that’s the time I learned how to be myself, because that was very challenging. But the most challenging situation when I was No. 1, was that people’s expectation level was so high. At the same time that’s the time I learn how to be myself,” said Ryu, who is looking for her first won of the 2019 season. “So I think it’s really great to have a higher goal to make yourself better all the time, so I am looking forward to becoming No. 1 in the world again someday.”

This week, Ryu is making her eighth start of the championship and will tee off at 7:59 a.m. on the first tee with Lydia Ko and Brooke Henderson.

FASSI DREAMS OF HOISTING WALMART NWA CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHY

Arkansas Razorback Maria Fassi returns to her “home away from home” to play at Pinnacle Golf Club, her third start of the event and her first time as an LPGA Tour professional. Coming off a T48 finish at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, she continues to grapple with her transition to life on Tour.

“Learning how to practice and learning how to be efficient has been key and I’ve had to change a lot of things and be okay with that change,” said Fassi, who is making her fourth start as a LPGA professional on the 2019 season. “I think that’s been one of the biggest challenges, accepting that even though I feel like I can do it today, it might not be what I need to do down the road, so learning how to practice has been a nice challenge.”

The 2019 NCAA Individual Champion enters the LPGA Tour with collegiate accolades that include winning the ANNIKA award for the second time but the 21-year-old rookie has already sets her sights on winning in Arkansas.

“Just the win itself would be out of this world amazing but doing it at home…this is home for me, and doing it here would be unreal,” said Fassi. “I mean, I joked about it with Coach. I was like, ‘okay, I’ll play for 10, 12 years so I have 10 or 12 goes at winning here,’ because I do want to win here so hopefully I get to do that and hold that trophy one day.”

TOURNAMENT SCORING RECORDS

18 holes: 61 (-10) So Yeon Ryu, second round, 2017

36 holes: 126 (-16), So Yeon Ryu, 2017

54 holes: 192 (-21), Nasa Hataoka, 2018

AON RISK REWARD CHALLENGE HOLE

No. 12, par 4

David Beckham was among the crowd at the Stade Oceane to see midfield stalwart Jill Scott open the scoring inside three minutes of this quarter-final, becoming just the second English player to score at three separate women’s World Cups.

Ellen White grabbed her fifth goal of the tournament five minutes prior to half-time and Bronze made sure of the victory with a rising shot high into the net as the hour mark approached.

England were so comfortable towards the end that they could even afford to squander a penalty, Nikita Parris having her late spot-kick saved.

There were striking similarities between Bronze’s effort here and her goal that gave England a 2-1 win over the same opponents at the 2015 World Cup.

The Lionesses went out of that tournament in the semi-finals and also fell in the last four at Euro 2017. Now they will hope to go a step further, although a daunting challenge awaits against hosts France or holders the United States in Lyon next Tuesday.

“We are a team that has lost in the semi-finals of the last two major tournaments and I suppose the main reason I was brought into this job was to get us through a semi-final,” Neville said.

“What I said to them at the end, and I am not ashamed to say it, was ‘are you ready to win a World Cup’, because we are in it to win it and I think we are in good shape.”

France and the USA meet in a blockbuster quarter-final in Paris on Friday, but Neville insisted his team are not afraid of what awaits them next.

“Both teams hold no fear for my players. We actually said when we qualified against Japan that that we were in the best side of the draw because of this semi-final.

“My players and I want the biggest games and this will be the biggest game of the World Cup.”

Norway had ousted Australia on penalties in the last round, but this was a step too far for a team who came to France without their superstar striker Ada Hegerberg.

“We lost against a better team than us,” admitted coach Martin Sjogren. “Of course we believed we could hurt England, but at this stage of the tournament all teams are very, very good.”

– Landmark goal for Scott –

They could not recover after falling behind to Scott’s early goal, with the outstanding Bronze charging forward down the right and cutting the ball back for the Manchester City midfielder to side-foot in off the far post.

It was a landmark goal for Scott, who first found the net for her country against Argentina at the 2007 World Cup.

England looked like scoring every time they came forward in the first half, with White hitting the post before the second goal came on 40 minutes.

This time Parris teed up White to convert from inside the six-yard box and join Australia’s Sam Kerr and Alex Morgan of the USA at the top of the World Cup scorers’ chart.

Any hopes Norway had of a second-half comeback were doused in the 57th minute when Bronze was fouled on another charge forward. Substitute Beth Mead laid the ball back to Bronze from the resulting free-kick, and the Lyon star smashed home in style.

England then stood firm to secure a fourth straight clean sheet, although they missed the chance to score a fourth goal from the spot with seven minutes left.

Captain Steph Houghton was shoved over in the box by Maria Thorisdottir, but Parris saw her kick from 12 yards kept out by Ingrid Hjelmseth.

The 17-year-old Korean compiled a two-day total of 12-under-par 132 with his blemish-free round highlighted by nine birdies at the RM 225,000 (US$54,000) Asian Development Tour (ADT) event.

Play was abandoned for the day at 7.15pm local time due to weather disruptions in the first round that had resulted in a delay of tee times. Kim holds the clubhouse lead by three shots over Japan’s Naoki Sekito (65) in second place while local hope Sukree Othman (66) and Singapore’s Mardan Mamat (67) trail a further shot behind in third place.

A total of 66 players will resume their second rounds at 7.30am on Friday at the Tiara Melaka Golf and Country Club. The third and penultimate round is scheduled to start at 11am.

Returning this morning to complete the remaining 12 holes in his first round, Kim took advantage of a hot putter to make up for his mediocre long game.

“I wasn’t hitting it very well this morning but I was making a lot of putts inside 12-feet that saved me. I sank a nice 10-footer for birdie on my first hole and ended the round with another great birdie putt on my last hole,” said Kim.

The Korean has been in stellar form this season with four top-10 finishes in his past five ADT appearances. He refuses to get ahead of himself despite being in the lead as he is aware of the tougher challenge ahead.

“I have been in this position a couple of times already this season so it is nothing new to me. There is still so much golf left to play and it is a really tough golf course so anything can happen,” added Kim, who turned professional last year.

Malaysia’s Ben Leong, a one-time Asian Tour winner, traded four birdies against one bogey to take a share of the fifth spot.

“I had to play 29 holes today so I am just glad to be done with my round because today’s conditions were extremely hot and humid. I made a bogey on hole 15 due to a wrong club choice but I recovered right after with a birdie on the approachable par-five hole,” added Leong, who is also a two-time winner on the ADT.

The projected cut is currently set at even-par 144 with the leading 50 players and ties advancing to the final two rounds.

Leading second round scores (incomplete):

132 – Joohyung Kim 69 63

135 – Naoki Sekito 70 65

136 – Sukree Othman 70 66 , Mardan Mamat 69 67

137 – Nicholas Latimer 70 67, Ben Leong 68 69 , Shahriffuddin Ariffin 70 67

KhunyingPatama Leeswadtrakul, (2nd from right), presents the IOC Order award to Thitima Indrapana (middle), wife of Dr Nat Indrapana. 

Thailand’s current IOC member, KhunyingPatama Leeswadtrakul, said family members accepted the IOCs highest honour on their behalf at Wednesday’s meeting.

Dr Nat, who played a significant role in Thai sports and served as an IOC member for almost 30 years, passed away following a lengthy battle with cancer last August.

Buamann joined the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) in 1994, became its deputy Secretary-General in 1995 and was elevated to Secretary-General in 2002.

Patama says South Africa’s Sam Ramsamy, New Zealand’s Barry Maister, Saint Lucia’s Richard Peterkin and Cuba’s Ruperto Herrera were also recipients of Olympic Orders in Lausanne.

The Olympic Order is the highest award of the Olympic Movement and is awarded for particularly distinguished contributions to the Olympic Movement, i.e. recognition of efforts worthy of merit in the cause of sport.

The Ratchaburi-born rose from No 5 to the top of the amateur ranking following her victory in the Ladies European Thailand Championship at the Phoenix Gold Golf and Country Club on Sunday.

Atthaya emerged the first Thai man or woman to reign on top of the world’s amateur rankings, two years after she set the world ‘s record as the youngest winner in a main professional golf tournament following her win in the inaugural Ladies European Thailand Championship at the age of 14 years, four months and 19 days.

By claiming her second LET title four days ago, Atthaya also became the youngest player to win twice on the LET at 16.

Since 2017, Atthaya, apart from two LET wins, has won a total 15 titles including 2017 Dutch International Junior Open, 2017 SEA Games individual and team, 2018 Women’s Amateur Asia Pacific Championship, 2018 Queen’s Sirikit Cup, 2018 Youth Olympics mixed doubles, 2018 World Junior Girls Championship and 2019 Thailand Ladies Amateur Open.

On the LPGA circuit, her best attempt was one top 8 finish in the 2018 HSBC Women’s World Championship and a top 30 finish in the 2018 ANA Inspiration, her best run in a major.

 The tournament is the second of three 54-hole tournaments on the 2019 schedule and boasts a list of champions that held the World No. 1 spot including Jiyai Shin (2009), Yani Tseng (2010, 2011), Ai Miyazato (2012), Inbee Park (2013), Stacy Lewis (2014), Lydia Ko (2016) and So Yeon Ryu (2017).

Defending champion Nasa Hataoka is making her 11th start on the 2019 season, returning to Rogers, Ark. for her title defense just after a T14 finish at the LPGA’s third major, the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. Last year, Hataoka set a 54-hole tournament record while carding a final-round 63 to win the tournament two strokes ahead of runner-up Austin Ernst and six players tied for third place. Since then, Hataoka has earned two additional victories on the LPGA Tour including the 2018 TOTO Japan Classic and the 2019 Kia Classic.

This week marks Hataoka’s third appearance of the event and is joined by six of the top-10 in the world including World No. 1 Jin Young Ko, No. 2 Sung Hyun Park, No. 3 Minjee Lee, No. 7 Brooke Henderson, No.8 Ariya Jutanugarn and No. 9 Inbee Park. Six past Walmart NW Arkansas Championship winners return to Pinnacle Country Club including So Yeon Ryu (2017), Lydia Ko (2016), Na Yeon Choi (2015) and leading the Razorback brigade is Stacy Lewis (2014).

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE WALMART NW ARKANSAS CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY P&G

• This is the 13th edition of the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G
• The tournament was originally known as the LPGA NW Arkansas Championship presented by John Q. Hammons and changed its name until 2011 when it became the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship as it is known today
• Hole No. 17 is known as the Gatorade Loudest Hole on Tour where fans “Call the Hogs” in celebration of the six University of Arkansas Razorbacks in the field
• Ten different winners have represented six different countries: Japan (Nasa Hataoka, 2018), Republic of Korea (So Yeon Ryu, 2017; Na Yeon Choi, 2015; Inbee Park, 2013), New Zealand (Lydia Ko, 2016), United States (Stacy Lewis, 2014), Japan (Ai Miyazato, 2012), Chinese Taipei (Yani Tseng, 2010, 2011)
• The inaugural tournament in 2007, won by then-amateur and University of Arkansas senior Stacy Lewis, is not official, as it was reduced to 18 holes due to rain delays
• Defending champion Nasa Hataoka holds the 54-hole tournament record (-21)
• The 144-player field this week represent 28 different countries

NEW MOM STACY LEWIS EXCITED TO BE BACK IN ARKANSAS

For Razorback alumna Stacy Lewis, coming back to Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers, Ark. for the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship is nothing short of a homecoming. In this event, Lewis has three top-5s and two top-10 finishes, also claiming victory by one stroke in 2014 over fellow Americans Cristie Kerr and Angela Stanford.

“Just looking forward to playing here again. There’s so much going on in the community from the food events, the run on Saturday morning to this pro‑am’s a big event being two days.  There’s a lot going on other than just a golf tournament,” said Lewis, who is making her 12^th start of the event. “Comfortable with the golf course obviously with the results, so excited to be back and hopefully get some good momentum coming up going out of this week.”

For the 34-year-old professional, life hasn’t been the same since the birth of her daughter, Chesnee – especially her golf game. Disappointed after a missed cut at last week’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, Lewis keeps reminding herself of the bigger things in life.

“My perspective of golf and life is just so different. I played horrible last week and walked into daycare and [Chesnee] had a big old smile on her face and came crawling up to me. I mean, I didn’t care what I shot,” said Lewis. “The golf doesn’t really matter. The fact that she’s healthy and she’s adapting to all this, that’s all I can ask for right now.”

PARK IN THE GIVING SPIRIT AT WALMART

On Tuesday, Annie Park walked into Arkansas Children’s Hospital, and walked out inspired. During the visit, the 24-year-old met with young patients and was on hand as The Walmart Foundation presented a $275,000 check benefiting the hospital’s children’s programs and Hall of Fame golfer Jack Nicklaus’ Play Yellow program. Park felt compelled to give back as well.

“It was great. I saw a lot of great kids. They were adorable, and a lot of troopers out there,” said Park. “It was a great environment to be in and really inspiring as well. I think this week will be a good week to bring awareness and give back.”

This week, Park pledges to donate to the Walmart Foundation for every birdie she makes at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship. She also hopes anyone else inspired will join her in making donations, whether it be golfers or LPGA fans.

The visit put golf in perspective for Park as she tees off No. 10 on Friday at 8:21 a.m. with Brittany Altomare and Inbee Park.

DYLAN KIM MONDAY QUALIFIES TO BECOME SIXTH RAZORBACK IN THE FIELD

Razorback Dylan Kim qualified for this year’s Walmart NW Arkansas Championship for the second consecutive year. Kim went out and shot a 68 to earn her way into this year’s tournament, making her the sixth University of Arkansas Razorback to play in the field this week. She is looking forward

“I had really positive vibes going in. It just kind of felt like my day,” said Kim, making her second start of the championship. “I chipped in a couple times so that’s always fun, and I made a lot of birdies after a bit of a rough start.”

Kim, who graduated in May after transferring from Baylor University to Arkansas in 2015, earned First-Team All-SEC honors this past season and was named WGCA Second-Team All-American. Her collegiate career was put on hold for a bit after redshirting her sophomore year after a benign tumor was removed from her leg in October of 2015. As she continues to her journey to one day turn professional, she will be joined by one of her biggest fans on her bag – her mom.

“She caddied for me in the qualifier and I’ve played a lot of good golf with her on the bag in the past, so we’re going to have a good time,” said Kim.

Kim she is enjoying the professional atmosphere at Walmart. She said she especially enjoyed her practice round with Razorback graduate Stacy Lewis, former teammate Kaylee Benton and Razorback coach Shauna Taylor..

“I think that it shows what Stacy and Shauna have done for the program,” said Kim. “To have that many Razorback pros in the field, it’s going to be a great week to be a hog.”

NOTABLE FIRST-ROUND GROUPINGS

Highlighting the morning groupings are past Walmart NWA champions So Yeon Ryu, Lydia Ko and nine-time LPGA winner Brooke Henderson at 7:59 a.m. off the first tee.

Lizette Salas tees off at 8:21 a.m. with Razorback alumna Stacy Lewis and Rolex Rankings World No. 1 Jin Young Ko on the first tee.

Defending champion Nasa Hataoka, Charley Hull and Ariya Jutanugarn will tee off at 8:32 a.m. on the first tee.

DESIGNATED HOLE FOR AON RISK REWARD CHALLENGE

The season-long Aon Risk Reward Challenge will highlight the world’s best professional golfers as they tackle the most strategically challenging holes across both the LPGA Tour and PGA TOUR schedules. The player from each Tour on top of the Aon leaderboard at the end of the regular season will receive a $1 million prize. The scoring system is identical on both the LPGA Tour and PGA TOUR, and players will take their best two scores from each Aon Risk Reward Challenge hole, with the winners having the best average score to par at the end of the season. Players must play a minimum of 40 rounds throughout the season. The Challenge runs across regular season tournaments (29 LPGA Tour; 36 PGA TOUR).

The designated Aon Risk Reward Challenge hole at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship is the 12th. This 394-yard par 4 is a wonderful risk-reward hole that allows players to decide if they should play it safe and lay back off the tee, or take the risk and use driver over trees on the right to set up a shorter approach into a difficult green. The huge putting surface features a lower right-side shelf that requires considerable skill to get the ball close.

For more information about the Aon Risk Reward Challenge, visit www.lpga.com/statistics/aon-risk-reward-challenge.

RACE TO THE CME GLOBE UPDATE

World No. 1 Jin Young Ko continues to lead the 2019 Race to the CME Globe with 2,359 points, followed by Meijer LPGA Classic winner Brooke Henderson with 1,945 points and LPGA Mediheal Championship winner Minjee Lee in third with 1,824 points.

The 2019 season brings a fresh face to the Race to the CME Globe. LPGA Members will accumulate points at each official LPGA Tour event leading up to the CME Group Tour Championship. The top 60 points earners and ties will then earn a spot in the CME Group Tour Championship, with the entire field competing for the $5 million purse and the $1.5 million winner’s check, the largest single prize in the history of women’s golf.

SHARON TAYLOR NOMINATED FOR LPGA’S AXA LPGA VOLUNTEER SERVICE AWARD

Sharon Taylor has been volunteering for the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship over a decade and has managed two volunteer committees during her volunteer experience. She takes great pride in ensuring that all players and guests have the best experience possible at Pinnacle Country Club. Every year, she even hosts an annual dinner at her residence for the tournament staff and is a huge hit! The tournament is proud to recognize Sharon as an outstanding volunteer from the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship for the 2019 AXA LPGA Volunteer Service Award.

The 26-year-old Simsby, who is playing in his first year in Asia, holds a one-shot lead with his bogey-free round highlighted by seven birdies at the RM 225,000 (US$54,000) event.

Play was delayed due to heavy rain with the morning session commencing only at 12.30pm local time. It was later abandoned at 7.10pm due to fading light.

A total of 62 players will return to Tiara Melaka Golf and Country Club to complete their rounds on Thursday at 7.30am with the second round scheduled to start no earlier than 11.15am.

Simsby, who came through the Asian Tour Qualifying School this year with a tied-16th result, was thrilled to open his campaign on a good note after spending six weeks back home in Carlsbad, California.

“It’s my first tournament since I played in Korea on the Asian Tour in May. I went home after that and played a couple of events to keep my momentum going and I’m happy to play well in my first round back in Asia,” said Simsby, who has already enjoyed three top-10 finishes on the ADT in his rookie season.

“I putted really well today and had really good course management. I was surprised the course was still in playable condition despite how much it rained this morning,” added Simsby.

“The highlight of my round would have to be hole nine. I hit my approach long and it went over the green and into a mud patch. I had to hit a punch shot onto the green from a terrible lie and then sank an eight-footer for birdie,” added the American, who joined the play-for-pay ranks in 2014 and has been plying his trade on the Web.com Tour as well as the PGA LatinoAmerica Tour.

Thailand’s Kosuke Hamamoto carded a blemish-free 66 to sit in second place while India’s Yuvraj Sandhu posted a 68 to trail two shots behind him.

A group of three players lie a further shot back following matching 69s. They include 2017 ADT Order of Merit winner Pannakorn Uthaipas of Thailand, Malaysia’s Daeng Rahman, as well as American Juan Gonzalez.

Kosuke, who is currently placed third on the ADT Order of Merit, relied on his stellar short game to mark his card with six birdies.

“It was a stress-free round with very little mistakes. I was hitting it good and made a couple of good saves. Like on hole 17 I made a good up-and-down from three feet and saved par from there. I ended my round with a 10-foot birdie right after,” said Kosuke, who is born to a Japanese father and Thai mother.

Leading first round scores (incomplete):

65 – Trevor Simsby

66 – Kosuke Hamamoto 68 – Yuvraj Sandhu 69 – Juan Gonzalez , Daeng Rahman , Pannakorn Uthaipas

70 – Kanat Kurbanaliev , Danny Masrin , Kemarol Baharin , Gregory Foo , Sam Lee , Chonlatit Chuenboonngam , Norazle Idris