Kyoto, September 24: Lam Chih Bing grabbed the joint lead after the first round of the Asia-Pacific Panasonic Open on Thursday, days after a freak golfing accident which he at first feared may have blinded him.
The Singaporean fired a five-under-par 66 at Joyo Country Club but admitted later he had been lucky to even be playing after countryman Mardan Mamat accidently hit him in the face with a driver during Monday’s practice round.
Lam was struck near his right eye as Mardan, who didn’t realise the 32-year-old was in his way, took a practice swing.
Doctors did not stitch the gash because it was too near the eye but Lam was thankful his sunglasses had reduced the full impact of the club.
“I was standing on the first tee box waiting to tee off and the next thing I was lying on the ground thinking if it’s the end of my golf career,” Lam said.
“Thank God when I removed my hands from my right eye, I was praying that I could still see.”
“I’m just very happy that I got to tee off today and it’s an even bigger bonus that I played good,” added Lam, whose score was matched by Japan’s unheralded Tetsuya Haraguchi.
There were high expectations of teen prodigy Ryo Ishikawa of Japan but he struggled home with a 73.
Instead, it took another 18-year-old to hog some of the limelight as Korea’s Noh Seung-Yul, last year’s Asian Tour rookie of the year, fired a solid 67.
He shares third with three Japanese — Tomohiro Kondo, Yuji Igarashi and Katsumasa Miyamoto — at the 1.5-million-dollar event sanctioned by the Asian Tour and Japan Golf Tour.
—Agencies