I felt the lash of Monty's caddy myself as early as the second tee, when I was told in no uncertain terms to "put that camera away…" But Jason had not seen my photographer's armband, and he apologized immediately on realizing his mistake. Later I asked him if it was easy for him to relax when caddying for Monty. "I wish I could say that it was", he replied honestly, but he performs well in what must be one of the most demanding roles in golf.
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Sand flies, but Monty holed this bunker shot for a birdie on 18.
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Monty's great strength used to be his ability to keep to the fairway and green – particularly his fairway irons – but he is the first to recognize that this is no longer the case. "I just have to cut out the mistakes," he said. "I never used to make mistakes and now I am making too many. The birdies are still there – I'm making about 16 birdies per tournament – but there are far too many errors."
Today was a case in point. He must have been desperately frustrated by the fact that three of his birdies – on the first hole, and on 13 and 15 – were immediately followed by bogey. He played a superb 9-iron from a fairway bunker to two feet on 15, then with the same club from 150 yards he missed a sizable green completely on the par-3 16. On 18 he missed the green from even closer with a wedge, but on this occasion he saved the situation by holing out from the bunker to finish with a birdie at one-over. Let's hope he can break his run by not bogeying the opener tomorrow.
Liang Wenchong had a round of three birdies and three bogeys to finish the day on par. The highlight of his round was a skillful chip-in for birdie from around fifty feet on the 17th. He was content with a score that keeps him well in touch with the leaders.
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No need to grimace - Liang Wenchong holed this 50-foot chip for birdie at 17.
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"I enjoyed playing with Damien and Colin today, although it was difficult," he said later. "The wind was up on several of the holes, so I'm more than satisfied. I only had one three-putt."
One of the obvious issues around this week's competition is the conflict between the Asian Tour and The Asia-Pacific Tour. The switch of organizational responsibility has led to an increase in the local representation to 36 players. Liang was asked if he was disappointed at the relatively poor showing of the Chinese, with only one finisher under-par. It may have been slightly unfair on a day when only 21 players from the whole field finished in the red, but it was a question begging to be asked. Liang batted it away smoothly enough.
"I'm very pleased for the player who finished under par," he said. "Remember that China is still a developing country in terms of its golf. We need experience and we need opportunities. A lot of the players out there are amateurs, and many are not yet 20 years old – I think it promises well for the future."
Liang qualified recently for The Open at Turnberry in July, the second successive year that he will play in the world's most prestigious tournament. "I haven't played much links golf," he said in answer to a question. "I'll try to get some practice before The Open, although there aren't too many links-style courses available in China."
He also observed that conditions today were not too dissimilar to links golf. The remark is astute. The CDB course is flat and undulating, and the sparse willow and birch trees provide little protection from the gusty breeze, one of the reasons why scoring today was high in what might have seemed to the less experienced observer to be relatively benign conditions.
