The Moutai Singapore Open returned to the Singapore Island Country Club (SICC) in style on Thursday, with Korea’s Jeunghun Wang climbing to the top of the leaderboard and Singapore amateur Troy Storm shining as the best-placed local after the opening round.
Wang carded a brilliant eight-under-par 64, mixing nine birdies with a lone bogey to seize a one-shot lead. The 29-year-old, who has three European Tour titles to his name, has been steadily rebuilding his form since returning from national service, and his opening round showed glimpses of the player who once lit up world golf.
“I haven’t won a tournament in almost eight years, so I really want to get a win again,” Wang said. “My irons were really good today — I hit the ball solid all day. My putting was hot too, and I didn’t really miss any shots. Overall, I’m very happy with how I played.”
Behind Wang, Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Gunn Charoenkul, along with Zimbabwe’s Kieran Vincent, are all one shot back after rounds of 65, while Germany’s Dominic Foos, winner of last month’s SJM Macao Open, continued his good run with a 66.
While Wang led the way at the top of the leaderboard, all eyes were on 16-year-old Troy Storm, who produced a composed five-under-67 score to finish as Singapore’s leading player on day one. Playing at his home club, the young amateur showed poise and maturity well beyond his years, with only a late three-putt on the final hole denying him an even stronger finish.
“I thought I played pretty well throughout the day,” said Storm. “I was pretty calm, actually, on the first tee, seeing all my family and friends, and just the home crowd support was really nice. It was a tough finish on the last hole with a three-putt, but I think today was really good and looking at all the positives will be good going into the last few days.”
Storm was joined by several impressive local performances. James Leow shot a solid four-under 68 to sit just outside the top 15, while fellow amateur Brayden Lee opened with a three-under 69 to round off a promising day for Singapore golfers.
