Trio on level par in Malaysia

A trio of Black Mountain sponsored players that include Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee, Sweden’s Rikard Karlberg and American Berry Henson opened their accounts at the Maybank Malaysian Open with similar even-par 72s.

Thongchai, who finished a creditable tied-37^th at the Masters last week, is hoping to ride on his wave of confidence as he aims for his third Maybank Malaysian Open title this week.

Despite trailing first round leader Lee Westwood of England by seven shots, Thongchai believes it is still early days and he can still mount a comeback especially with his positive state of mind.

“I think the more you play at Augusta National, the better you get. I’m very happy with my performance. My key goal was to make the cut because it was the only Major where I didn’t make the halfway cut before. After you play well in a Major tournament, you always get more confidence. I’m definitely happy with how I played and I think that I’ll continue to carry on my form” said Thongchai.

Henson, who is aiming to end a three-year winless drought on the Asian Tour, mixed his card with four bogeys against four birdies while Karlberg marked his with two bogeys and two birdies.

Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond, another Black Mountain sponsored player was one-over through 16 holes before play was suspended for the day due to fading light.

Play was earlier suspended for over an hour in the afternoon because of thunderstorms.