International Series Macao kicks off in style with major stars shining bright

United States golfer Patrick Reed's affinity for the Greater Bay Area in South China was evident once more on Thursday after the 2018 Masters winner shot a majestic seven-under-par 63 to take the first-round lead at the International Series Macao presented by Wynn.

Four months ago the American claimed the Link Hong Kong Open, helped by a spectacular 59 on the third day, in Macao once again he was unstoppable, overcoming a challenging course with seven birdies and no bogeys.

He leads the $2 million event, which is part of The International Series on the Asian Tour, from Filipino Miguel Tabuena, Peter Uihlein from the US, and Finland's Kalle Samooja, who all carded 64s.

Reed, who finished fourth in this event last year, birdied the 16th and 18th holes to edge ahead late in the day. Moments earlier, Uihlein had eagled the par-five 18th, while Tabuena had led for most of the day, having started at 7am.

"It was a steady day," said Reed, a member of 4Aces GC on the LIV Golf League. "I wasn't feeling that great when I first got up. Mainly my body was a little tight, but it loosened up nicely on the range.

"You know, got off to good a start. Was hitting my golf ball how I wanted to. Was hitting pretty solid. I was kind of getting it out in front of me where I wanted, where I was looking, and I was leaving myself in the right spot. So, I felt like that was the biggest thing today."

Tabuena shook off the effects of an early morning wake-up call and an uncharacteristic missed one-foot putt on his first hole to set the bar early on.

The Filipino, who made eight birdies against two bogeys, said: "Woke up at 3:45am, got in the gym at 4:10. Did some stretching; did some activation stuff, yeah, but it's routine. The game feels really good except for my three-putt on the first hole, which was number 10. Missed it from a foot. So that was pretty funny. I just laughed it out."

He rallied and made the turn in two under, with four birdies and two bogeys, before finding his rhythm on the second half with birdies on three, four, seven and eight.

He is looking for his first win on the Asian Tour since The DGC Open presented by Mastercard in 2023. Since then, he has seven top five finishes.

Another major winner playing in Macao this week is Spain's Sergio Garcia, who won the Masters in 2014 and the LIV Golf Hong Kong two weeks ago. He fired a 65 and is in a group of six players two shots off the lead.

Defending champion John Catlin, from the US, returned a disappointing 72 but did will to recover, having been four-over-par after five holes.

Another American, Ollie Schniederjans, who leads both the Asian Tour Order of Merit and The International Series Rankings, was forced to withdraw because of a muscle strain.

sunxiaochen@chinadaily.com.cn