Scott Vincent, known as one of the most likeable guys on the LIV Golf, Asian and Japan Golf Tours, is busy making another name for himself as once again he finds himself leading the way in the Asian Tour’s International Series.
The Zimbabwean fired a stunning bogey-free eight-under 64 in the opening round of the $1.5 million event at Singapore’s Tampines Course at Tanah Merah Country Club.
He took advantage of an early start on Thursday to surge into a one-shot lead ahead of Malaysian golfer Gavin Green, who fired a bogey-free 65 to take him to second spot on his own on seven-under.
Vincent won the inaugural International Series England in Newcastle in June and leads the International Series Order of Merit, having tied for 11th in Thailand in March, and was once again in inspired form in the Asian Tour’s new raft of million-dollar plus events.
“It was a great day, just got off to a really nice start, and then the momentum just kept going. As I have said before I am just out here trying to be a little better each day,” said Vincent. “Today was a really good day, a lot of things went my way, a lot of putts went in, so it was a good challenge trying to stay present and stay in the moment and enjoy each stage and not get too far ahead. Yeah, so that was the big challenge today and the golf was phenomenal.”
-The Vincents show –
Vincent’s brother Kieran returned a 68 and is tied for ninth position on four-under-par along with Americans Dodge Kemmer and Turk Pettit, Australia’s Todd Sinnott, Japan’s Jinichiro Kozuma, Janne Kaske from Finland, Nitithorn Thippong from Thailand, and Vietnam’s Michael Tran.
Kieran, who has impressed on the PGA Tour Canada since turning professional recently is making his debut on the Asian Tour, and 30-year-old Scott is expecting great things from his 24-year-old sibling.
“He is a great player, I have no doubt he will do something really special with his golf, and whether it is here or whether it is down the road it is going to be really good to see him playing well because he is very capable and we’ll just see how he does coming in,” said the Zimbabwean, who won a title in Japan before his success in Newcastle.
Pre-tournament favourite Patrick Reed from the United States carded a 73. The 2018 Masters champion was one under at the turn but struggled home with dropped shots on 11 and 14.