Thailand’s Sarit Suwannarut lit up Sta. Elena Golf Club with a sparkling eight-under-par 64 to seize the first-round lead at the US$2 million International Series Philippines presented by BingoPlus.
The in-form Thai, riding a wave of strong finishes on the Asian Tour, carded nine birdies against a lone bogey to edge Japan’s Kazuki Higa by a single stroke. Higa, already a two-time winner this season, returned a bogey-free 65 to sit just one back.
“It was perfect,” said Sarit, who started on the back nine and birdied four of his first nine holes before adding five more coming home. “I’ve been playing pretty good. I just tell myself, ‘You can hit it, you can do it.’”
Sarit credited a recent switch in both coach and putter for his hot streak, which includes a fourth-place finish at the SJM Macao Open and top-15 results in Jakarta and Taiwan. “The changes are starting to click,” he said. “I’m just excited to be out here with guys like Dustin [Johnson] and Patrick Reed. I just want to play good golf.”
The 25-year-old currently sits 25th on the Asian Tour Order of Merit and 52nd in The International Series Ranking.
Morning conditions proved ideal for scoring, and the leaderboard reflected it. England’s Richard Bland, Americans Charles Porter and George Kneiser, and Thailand’s Chapchai Nirat all posted six-under 66s to share third.
LIV Golf star and former world No.1 Dustin Johnson made his long-awaited Philippines debut and didn’t disappoint. The 4Aces GC captain fired a five-under 67 despite a double bogey on the 15th and two other dropped shots. He’s tied seventh with a logjam of contenders including India’s Gaganjeet Bhullar, South Africa’s Dean Burmester, China’s Guxin Chen, Germany’s Maximilian Rottluff, and Americans Austen Truslow and MJ Maguire.
“It was a good atmosphere,” said Johnson, who played alongside Louis Oosthuizen and local hero Miguel Tabuena. “We all played pretty well and made a lot of birdies. I hit one bad drive on 15, but otherwise I’m in a good spot heading into the rest of the week.”
Higa, who captured the Shinhan Donghae Open and Yeangder TPC in back-to-back starts, was one of seven players to go bogey-free. “Seven-under was a little better than we planned,” said the soft-spoken Japanese standout. “I hit a lot of fairways and gave myself chances. To keep pace with guys like Dustin and Patrick, I’ll need to keep scoring.”
The International Series Philippines marks the sixth stop on the elevated International Series calendar, with a world-class field and a championship layout setting the stage for a thrilling week of golf in Southeast Asia.
