Jordan Gumberg will take a one-stroke lead into the second round of the Hainan Classic presented by MAEXTRO after carding a 64 at Mission Hills Haikou on Thursday.
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It was a near-faultless performance from the American, whose round featured only one blemish amidst highlights aplenty to set a target of seven-under par.
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Opening his campaign on the 10th hole of the Blackstone Course, the 30-year-old managed three birdies in his first nine holes before a birdie streak to finish – with six birdies in his last seven holes more than offsetting his only bogey of the day at the 4th.
Jorge Campillo was the best of the morning groups, navigating the Vintage Course to finish with a 65 to sit one shot off the lead.
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The Spaniard gained some early momentum with back-to-back birdies at the 3rd and 4th before picking up another just before the turn. A further five birdies and a bogey rounded out a solid performance that placed him in outright second.
South African pair Thriston Lawrence and Dylan Frittelli were in the group at six under, alongside Australia’s Jason Scrivener, Canada’s Aaron Cockerill and China’s Wenyi Ding.
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Playing in front of family and friends, the highlights of 21-year-old Ding’s round were eagles at the 3rd and 12th on the Vintage course, added to three birdies and a bogey to tally a 66.
The opening round on Thursday was played across two courses – Blackstone and Vintage – at Mission Hills Haikou, with groups to rotate and play the alternate 18 holes on Friday. This year’s format also sees a pro-am competition run concurrently, with teams made up of one pro and one amateur for the first two rounds.
Player quotes
Jordan Gumberg: I just got the putter rolling. It’s been a little while since I’ve had the putter actually go my way. I made a little switch in that break area, going back to a short putter, and I just have a lot of confidence in it right now. It’s feeling good.
I kind of didn’t even realise it, to be honest with you. I knew I birdied two in a row and was kind of just plugging along, and just kept hitting good shots. I didn’t really realise it was five in a row, not that that makes a difference, but it was nice to see it on the card for sure.
It’s very similar to golf courses I play back home – similar grass type, on bermuda grass in the rough and paspalum in the fairways, it just feels like home. Growing up in South Florida, you play a lot of these types of golf courses, minus the lava rock obviously, but just the grass feels familiar.
It’s always great to be in a good spot after Thursday. You’ve just got to keep your head down and keep going. It’s a long golf tournament, there are still three rounds left and we play a different golf course tomorrow, so it will be interesting.
