October 29: It wasn’t the start Sangchai Kaewcharoen wanted on his birthday, but he certainly won’t mind the end as the Thai raced to joint lead at the end of the opening round with a fast-finishing Kevin Akbar of Indonesia and England’s Matt Killen in the US$125,000 Egyptian Open.

At Madinaty Golf Club in Cairo, Sangchai spent a sleepless night because of a bout of food poisoning, but nine birdies in a round of six-under par 64 ensured it was a good day as he turned 27.

Akbar joined him late in the day, shooting five-under par for his last six holes, which included an eagle on the par-five fifth hole. Killen birdied the last to make it a three-way tie at the top.

India’s Karandeep Kochhar, England’s Finlay Mason, the Italian duo of Michele Ortolani and Luca Galliano, Austrian Niklas Regner and Thailand’s Poom Pattaropong were all in tied fourth place, one shot behind the leaders.

Sangchai Kaewcharoen of Thailand. Picture by Kaikungwon Duanjumroon/Asian Tour.

Morocco’s rookie pro El Mehdi Fakori was the best player from the region with a four-under round, that lifted him to tied 10th place alongside five other players.

Akbar and Sangchai are currently 51st and 52nd in the Asian Development Tour Order of Merit. Killen is second, and almost assured of graduating to the Asian Tour next season.

Sangchai started on the 10th tee and his round included four birdies in a row from the 16th hole to the first, and six birdies in eight holes from the 14th to the third.

“I did not drive that ball that well today, but my approach shots were good, and I made a lot of putts. I made three bogeys, and all of them came after I missed the fairways,” said Sangchai, winner of the 2023 OB Golf Invitational Presented by Sentul Highlands Golf Club on the ADT.

“It’s my birthday today, but I was up all night dealing with food poisoning. Hopefully, I am better tomorrow and continue to play like this.”

Akbar continued his good form from previous week’s ADT Players Championship presented by The R&A in the Philippines, where he finished tied seventh. He was one-under par through 12 holes, before going on a tear, coming in with four birdies and an eagle.

Matt Killen of England. Photo by Thananuwat Srirasant/Asian Tour

“Played really good today. Striking the ball pretty good and holed some important putts too,” said the 27-year-old, winner of one ADT title in 2023.

“The eagle on fifth hole was the highlight. Hit my driver on the fairway. I hit my second shot just on the green, with the pin middle-left. I was trying to get it close first, but luckily, it just rolled in.

“I like the golf course, which is in great shape. I like this type of grass, which is pretty similar to some of the courses we have back home in Indonesia.”

Killen, winner of Ciputra Golfpreneur Tournament earlier this year, made a bright start and reached six-under through 12 holes. However, he needed a birdie on the last to maintain that score after dropping his second shot of the day on the par-three 15th hole.

Kochhar, who is hoping to regain his full card on the Asian Tour through ADT this year, was one of four bogey-free rounds of the day.

“Obviously, going bogey-free is always a good thing. I would say it was quite a stress-free round because I hit all 18 greens in regulation and made a couple of really good lag putts from 40–50-foot range,” said Kochhar, who is ranked 19th in the Order of Merit.

The Asian Development Tour is in Egypt for successive weeks. After the Egyptian Open, it moves to Sokhna Golf Club for the US$125,000 Egypt Golf Series – Red Sea Open.