KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s rising star Gavin Green battled to an opening one-over-par 72 in his Major debut at the British Open at Carnoustie on Thursday.
The 24-year-old, who averaged 354 yards off the tee, marked his card with five birdies against six bogeys to trail by six shots at the world’s oldest Major championship.
“I hit it good. The bogeys were just bad breaks. I didn’t stay short enough of the pot bunkers but I was learning. My ball striking was good. Three of my birdies were all tap-ins.
“A couple of times I hit it into the bunkers and had to chip it out but overall, a one-over to start my first Major, I’ll take it,” said Gavin.
Gavin, who represented Malaysia at the 2016 Rio Olympics, sealed his place in the year’s third Major by winning Asian Tour’s Order of Merit last year, where he claimed one victory (2017 Taiwan Masters) and five top-10 finishes.
Despite closing with two straight bogeys, Gavin kept his head up and remains optimistic of putting up a lower score on Friday.
“I was just cruising out there. But towards the end, I just hit a couple of bad shots at the wrong time. I wasn’t nervous. I was calm and cool so it’s fine.
“It wasn’t that tough coming down the stretch I think. I just hit shots that I shouldn’t hit. It was a good save for bogey on 17.”
Gavin, who has his father Gary on the bag this week, is the third and youngest Malaysian, following Iain Steel (1996) and Danny Chia (2005, 2008 and 2010), to qualify for The Open.
