Justin Thomas didn’t waste any time getting to work in Malaysia.
Thomas, the defending champion at the CIMB Classic, came up with nine birdies in the steamy tropical climate at the TPC Kuala Lumpur and found himself tied for the first round lead.
Thomas shot 64 along with Keegan Bradley and relative newcomer Derek Fathauer.
“It was a good day, it was solid if there is such a thing as an easy 64, it was,” said Thomas, who has never had a chance to defend a title on the PGA Tour. He graduated from the Web.com Tour to the PGA Tour and thus didn’t defend any of his wins there.
“A pretty low stress day,” Thomas continued. He was miffed by the fact that he came up with a three-putt par at the first par five of the day, the third hole. Other than that, it was simply a matter of taking on the heat and humid conditions with a “feels like” temperature of 100 degrees greeting the field.
“I felt like jello early but I drank as many waters as possible,” Thomas added.
Paul Casey continued his outstanding play, which has carried over from the FedEx Cup playoffs. Casey came up with eight birdies and a lone bogey at the par five third for a seven-under par 65.
Bradley, who has struggled to find his old form after switching to a shorter putter, had the hottest start of the day. He went out in six-under then added an eagle at the 10th to get to eight under quickly. But a pair of bogeys offset by two birdies coming home left him tied with Thomas and Fathauer.
Anirban Lahiri was alone at 66 while Sergio Garcia was one of four players at five-under par.
Thomas shot 26-under in his winning effort last year.
