Nitithorn Thippong’s season just brightened up considerably after he holed out from a greenside bunker for a battling par on the 18^th to seize the first-round lead in the US$2 million Link Hong Kong Open.

The Thai golfer, a three-time winner on the Asian Tour but enduring one of his worst seasons, shot a morale-boosting eight-under-par 62.  

Defending champion Ben Campbell from New Zealand, Australian Kevin Yuan and Japan’s Kazuki Higa are next best placed following 63s, in the third from last event of the season on both the Asian Tour and The International Series.

Indian Rashid Khan and Korea’s Jaewoong Eom fired 64s – here at the Hong Kong Golf Club, Fanling.

It has been quite a year for New Zealand’s Ben Campbell since his sensational Hong Kong Open victory last November, and he’s hoping that some work with the putter during a recent short break will help his bid to defend his title and clinch The International Series Rankings title.

Campbell currently sits in fourth position on The International Series Rankings, following his victory at International Series Morocco in July and three top-10 finishes this year, including a T4 at the Black Mountain Championship and a T6 at the BNI Indonesian Masters in two of the last three tournaments.

Nearly two-and-a-half years after his last appearance on the Asian Tour, golfing phenom Tom Kim is back this week competing in the Link Hong Kong Open with the air of expectancy palpable. 

The Asian Tour is where it all started for the young Korean – particularly in 2019 when he triumphed four times, once on the main tour and three times on the Asian Development Tour at the tender age of 17 – before he became an almost overnight sensation on the global stage with two victories on the PGA Tour in 2022 and another last year.

“This is where I started; I have a lot of my friends here,” said Kim, now aged 22.