Five-way tie opens Manila Masters

MANILA — Golfers from Thailand, India, Taiwan and the United States were in a five-way tie in the opening round at the Manila Masters Golf Tournament Thursday. Thailand’s Danthai Boonma and Rattanon Wannasrichan, India’s Jyoti Randhawa, Taiwan’s Lin Wen-tang and Johannes Veerman of the United States all had matching eight-under-par 64s at the top of the leaderboard at the par-72 Manila Southwoods Golf and Country Club. Lin, 42, had a lucky eagle on his closing 18th hole that sent him into the tie for the lead after hitting four birdies in his opening five holes. “It was a good day and I came into this round feeling very good about my game. There was not much wind in the morning and that really helped,” the six-time Asian Tour winner said. The other leaders also credited the benign conditions for their remarkable performances. “There was no wind today so it can get fairly easy on this golf course when there’s no wind. This golf course seems to set itself up nicely for my style of play so that helps a bit,” said Randhawa, 44, who was Asia’s No. 1 in 2002. McDowell ‘feeling good’ A rejuvenated Graeme McDowell heads into his title defense at this week’s OHL Classic at Mayakoba in Mexico fervently hoping he can iron out a few inconsistencies in his game that have marred his 2016 campaign. The former US Open champion posted five top-10s in 21 starts on the 2015-16 PGA Tour, including a playoff victory in Mexico 12 months ago, but his ‘bad’ weeks led to a total of 10 missed cuts on the US circuit. “I’ve been disappointed that I haven’t kicked on better this year, to be honest,” McDowell, 37, told reporters while preparing for Thursday’s opening round at El Camaleon golf Club. “Finishing with the type of momentum I did last year, I really felt like I was going to kick on a little bit more. “But taking the positives out of this year, when I have played well, I’ve maintained my weekends and continued to play well and posted several good rounds. The inconsistencies have been those missed cuts.” The straight-hitting McDowell, whose only major victory came at the 2010 US Open, missed the cut last week at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas on his first start on the 2016-17 PGA Tour. Overall, though, the globe-troting Northern Irishman is in upbeat mood for his title defense at Playa del Carmen where he triumphed last year in a three-way playoff. Among those also competing this week at El Camaleon are former world No. 1 Ernie Els and Luke Donald, PGA Tour veteran Jim Furyk, Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo and Japanese Ryo Ishikawa and Anirban Lahiri of India.