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Shenzhen International tees off in style

Xinhua, April 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

China's Huang Wenyi topped the leaderboard after Round 1 of the inaugural Shenzhen International which teed off under blue skies at Genzon Golf Club in Guangdong Province.

Huang shot 6-under par on the first day of the tournament in a round that included five birdies on the front nine and a further three on the back.

The 34-year-old from Jiangxi province was one shot clear of second placed foursome Peter Uihlein of the United States, Byeong Hun An of South Korea, Felipe Aguilar of Chile and Kiradech Aphibarnrat of Thailand.

Speaking after a round that lasted an incredible five hours, 40 minutes, Huang said: "Today is a very happy and very long day! I tried not to think about it too much, but overall my mindset was very calm and I have taken it slowly. I was looking at the leaderboard and to be honest was a little excited and a little nervous. I kept telling myself I must play it well; so I took a deep breath and relaxed, and took it step by step and sent the ball to where I wanted it to be."

The tournament got off to an exciting start with no less than two hole-in-ones. The first came from Morten Madsen of Denmark on the par three 12th hole, and the second from second placed Byeong Hun An of South Korea on the eighth. Darren Fichardt of South Africa lies in sixth place at 4-under par.

Speaking about that shot and his round, An said, "It was in the middle! Me and my caddie were debating whether to hit 5 or 4. I though go a bit more aggressive, so decided to hit 4 and ended up going in the hole. I hadn't had one in my life until Abu Dhabi, and now I have two. I'm really happy with 67. It's quite tough out there a couple holes, and greens were really tricky. So, 67 is a good score."

Coming straight from the Masters, tournament favorite, Bubba Watson, got off to a slow start, dropping shots on holes 16, 1 and 2, but a birdie on 17 followed by a string on 5, 6 and 7 brought the world No. 4 back into contention, carding a score of 2-under par 70 to leave him tied in 17th place. Endi