Scott Piercy was not one of the players being talked about before the CIMB Classic in Kuala Lumpur.
After his red-hot first round, he was the talk of the town.
Piercy found 10 birdies at the Kuala Lumpur Golf Club and his impressive 62 gave him a three-shot lead over Hideki Matsuyama.
“I made the putts I didn’t make last week,” admitted Piercy, who finished an unimpressive 26th in Las Vegas, his hometown.
Alex Cejka, a globe-trotting journeyman, continued to play some of the best golf of his life. He was in a group at six-under par that included Keegan Bradley, a former PGA championship winner who has fallen in the ranks. Bradley has returned to his former teacher Jimmy McLean and is finding some of his old magic.
Defending champion Ryan Moore was five-shots off Piercy’s scorching pace with a 67 and the human ATM machine, Kevin Na, was there with him.
Some pre-tournament favorites didn’t fare too well on the first day.
Henrik Stenson could do not better than a one-under par 71 and Gary Woodland, who finished runner-up to Moore last year, struggled and shot 75.
