Unheralded Chau Pui takes surprise lead at HKPGA Championship
Hong Kong's Chau Pui came in from the cold on Tuesday - literally - to take the first-round lead at the HK$450,000 Ageas HKPGA Championship.
Unheralded and unknown Chau fired a one-under-par 71 in difficult conditions at Kau Sai Chau to race into a three-shot lead over defending champion Unho Park, who is among a group of four players in a share of second place.
I just tried to play as I normally do and not worry too much about the tournament
"It was a tough day so I'm delighted with my score," said 22-year-old Chau, who works as an instructor in Shenzhen. "I just tried to play as I normally do and not worry too much about the tournament.
"If I can continue to focus on my game I can hopefully finish better than last year," said Chau, who was fifth in the event 12 months ago.
Park, who is aiming for a record fourth consecutive victory, got his title defence off to the perfect start with birdies at the opening two holes but a bogey at the closing hole, where he lost a ball off the tee, put a dampener on an otherwise sound performance by the Singapore-based Australian.