Philippine Sports News and Updates

Artemio Murakami shot a five-under-par 67 to lay two strokes behind four players at the start of the 2010 Asian Tour Qualifying School Final Stage played at the Springfield Royal Country Club in Hua Hin, Thailand.

Murakami, who is trying to regain his regular Asian Tour card, trails Japanese Katsumune Imai and Masaki Sakata, Englishman Mark Foster and Korean Han Seung-su.

"It’s a great start," Murakami said.

Imai, 37, closed with a superb back nine performance when he returned with a record equaling 28 highlighted by six birdies and one eagle where he sank a five-yard chip in from the edge of the 12th hole.

The two-time Japan Tour winner signed off with further birdies on 17 and 18 which he sank from six feet.

"My putting on the front nine was horrible but everything started to fall together on the back nine. Overall, it was a great round except for my single bogey."

"After losing my Japan Tour card last year, I decided to play somewhere different so opted to play this week. I hope I can earn my card and achieve success here," said Imai.

Starting on the back nine, Foster, a one-time winner in Europe, got off to a good start when he birdied the 13th hole before reeling in six more birdies in a bogey free round.

"The difficult part this week is getting comfortable on the greens and my putting didn’t let me down. I’m very pleased with my round. I wanted to get off to a good start and I managed to achieve that," said the 34-year-old Foster.

• GMANews.TV
• Philippine Sports Central