Marcus Fraser of Australia shot an opening-round 7-under 65
Thursday to take a one-stroke lead in the fog-disrupted
Ballantine's Championship.
Fraser had a bogey-free round and leads Mark Foster of
England in second place at the $2.9 million event at Pinx Golf Club
sanctioned by the Asian Tour, European Tour and the Korea PGA.
Ted Oh of South Korea shot a 67 in near darkness after a
six-hour fog delay to take a share of third place with Rick Kulacz
of Australia and Welshman Jamie Donaldson, who are at 5-under
through 17 and 16 holes respectively.
Ernie Els of South Africa and American Anthony Kim both shot
a 68. Nearly a third of the field -- 66 golfers -- did not start
their first rounds.
Y.E. Yang, returning for a tournament on his home island for
the first time since winning the PGA championship last year,
birdied the first hole before darkness halted play.
Fraser trailed playing partner Foster by one shot after nine
holes, but made a 35-foot putt for the start of three consecutive
birdies on the back nine.
"It felt like I practiced really well at the start of the
week, so I was sort of hoping for a good one to get going," Fraser
said. "I feel like I drove it very well and putted really well. I
gave myself a lot of chances on the greens and managed to make a
few."
