The golf played by Thailand’s Ekpharit Wu and Jeongwoo Ham from Korea matched the sizzling hot weather today at the Singapore Open presented by The Business Times.
They fired sparkling seven-under-par 64s on The Serapong at Sentosa Golf Club to take the lead by two on day one of the US$2million event.
Charles Porter, Zimbabwe’s Kieran Vincent and Aidric Chan from the Philippines were equally impressive shooting 66s to share third place.
A big group of players came in with 67s: John Catlin from the United States, the 2024 Asian Tour Order of Merit champion, Australians Will Florimo and Kevin Yuan, Japan’s Tomohiro Ishizaka and Ryosuke Kinoshita, Spaniard Luis Masaveu, plus India’s Gaganjeet Bhullar.
Competitors in what is the 57th staging of Singapore’s National Open will rarely play in more hotter and humid, sauna-like conditions than today.
Ekpharit, playing in the event for the first time, was unperturbed, making seven birdies in a bogey-free round. He started on the back nine and made the turn in five under, helped by three in a row from the 14th.
The Thai won his first title on the Asian Tour last year at the Taiwan Glass Taifong Open, in Chinese-Taipei. It was an especially significant win as his father is from there, while his wife Pam was on the bag.
She is his regular caddie and has been a big part of his success since turning professional – something his acknowledged today.
“It’s been a very rewarding partnership. She being by my side makes me more confident on the course,” said 26-year-old, who also tied for third at the Bharath Classic shortly after winning in Chinese-Taipei.
“She helps me not to get angry on the golf course. When on the course, we always hit some bad shots but it’s about not getting too emotional and she helps me a lot with that.
“When I was an amateur I used local caddies, but when I turned professional I spoke with her and she became my caddie straight away, no question.”
A professional since 2020 he is a graduate of the 2025 Asian Tour Qualifying School, having played mainly on the Asian Development Tour before that.
He is also a two-time winner on the All Thailand Golf Tour, having won back-to-back titles in 2024.
Ham mainly plays on the Korean PGA Tour and has only competed in a small number of Asian Tour events. He excelled today despite dropping a shot on his first, which was the 10th. It was his only dropped shot of the day as he went on to make eight birdies, including three on the trot from 18.
Porter, the giant American who is 6 feet 9 inches tall, finished second on the driving distance statistics last year, in what was his rookie season on the Asian Tour. He boasted an average on 323.68 yards and unleashed a couple of big ones today.
“I hit a couple of big drives — over 350 yards on both 7 and 18 — which gave me short irons into the par fives, and I was able to make birdie on both,” he said.
“I also holed a really nice putt on nine. The driving iron wasn’t great today, but if the driver’s working, you can take that.
“I don’t really remember my bogeys, to be honest — I just remember the good shots. We had a great group out there, which always helps, and I was fuelling up with chicken burgers all day.”
Both Chan and Vincent joined him in second place thanks to making eagles on the par-five 18th. Chan’s was the result of the putt of the day, a 70-footer.
Catlin is a six-time winner on the Asian Tour but surprisingly did not add to that hall last year.
When asked how important it is to win again he said: “It’s huge! I mean, that’s why I put in all the work I do. That’s why I practice all the hours and put myself in that position, because I want to have that last putt on Sunday to win.”
He was also bogey-free today and even made par on par-five 18th despite finding water off the tee.
“You know, I really only got in trouble once and drove it in the water on 18. I was still able to make a five,” he said.
“Just very steady Eddie. A lot of good golf shots. Yeah, was in position a lot, had a lot of birdie chances. A few times I was out of position, or I missed a green, I was in the right position and got up and down. So, it’s just, you know, a pretty steady Eddie round.”
The tournament is the fourth event of the season on the Asian Tour and the second leg of The International Series, the enhanced level of tournaments that provide a pathway to the LIV Golf League.
The event is also part of the Open Qualifying Series with the top two players not otherwise exempt eligible for this summer’s Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.
