13 May 2022 | Professional golf |
Sinnott sparkles at Diamond Cup
by Dane Heverin
Todd Sinnott enjoyed a superb start on his first return to Japan since last November by carding a four-under-par 66 to lie just one shot back of the leaders after the opening round of the Asia-Pacific Open Golf Championship Diamond Cup on Thursday.
The 29-year-old traded three birdies against a bogey to turn in 33 before picking up two more shots at the Oarai Golf Club.
"It was a good round. I enjoyed playing with Ben (Campbell). Had some good chat out there," said Sinnott, who won the Leopalace21 Myanmar Open for his sole JGTO victory to date.
"I really enjoyed the round, and I like the golf course. My putting was pretty solid. I hit it decent the first 14 holes. I didn’t hit it great on the last few holes. I struggled a bit there but was still able to hole some nice par putts.
"It's my first time playing this course. It’s hard. We were lucky because there wasn’t much wind this morning. When the wind or rain gets up, it can play very tough out there."
Sinnott, who is competing this season with a limited status after managing to finish in 30th place in the Final Qualifying Tournament, will be out to secure a good result to get himself a better re-rank in the later part of the JGTO season.
Minjee Lee has made a solid start at the LPGA Tour's Cognizant Founders Cup in New Jersey and is in a tie for seventh. The world number five shot five-under to be four shots off leader Madelene Sagstrom.
In Texas, Adam Scott is the best of the Australians at the PGA Tour's AT&T Byron Nelson with a five-under opening round of 67 to be tied for 11th and seven shots behind runaway leader Colombian Sebastian Munoz.
Jason Day continued his promising form for last week with a four-under round, while Brett Drewitt is three-under par.
Asia Pacific Open Golf Championship Diamond Cup leaderboard
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