Kiradech Aphibarnrat talked about the possibility of a first Asian champion of the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters after the big-hitting Thai carded a six-under-par 66 in the first round of the European Tour event.
Koreans Wang Jeunghun – playing with Kiradech – and Lee Soomin, and China Number One Li Haotong all carded 69 in their tournament debuts, while India’s SSP Chawrasia carded a 70.
Kiradech, 27, started his year with a tie for fourth last week in Abu Dhabi alongside Martin Kaymer and Bernd Wiesberger, the trio finishing two shots behind winner Tommy Fleetwood. All four players, as well as joint runner-up Pablo Larrazábal, are competing this week and Kiradech – a three-time European Tour winner – said he’s continuing from where he left off.
“This week, there are a lot of top players in the field so I’m going to have to work hard and who knows, there might be a first Asian champion,” said Kiradech, who’s playing the first two rounds with Wang and 2016 Asian Tour Number One Scott Hend.
Li, who finished behind Wang in the 2016 European Tour Rookie of the Year rankings, played down talk of winning on his first appearance in Qatar, but the 21-year-old admitted he enjoyed playing with 10-time European Tour winner Graeme McDowell for the first time.
“Graeme is a nice guy and a birdie machine! I really enjoyed playing with him. We talked a lot about his experience and funny things,” said Li, who played on the Web.com Tour in 2015 before becoming a full-time European Tour member last April after his China Open win.
