Zhou Xun Shu rebounded nicely from the worst performance of his professional golf career, but his one-under 69 on Thursday was another round that left him pondering, “What if?” Last week in Guangzhou, Zhou finished almost dead last in the Midea Classic, an Asian Tour event with lots of foreign pros and a big US$400,000 purse. But a freak accident — Zhou slipped and fell while crossing a road median — left his left thumb bloody and raw, and the pain made driving the ball problematic. Zhou’s early exit in Guangzhou allowed his thumb to heal, and gave him time to focus on the Xiamen Leg of the China Tour, the second to last event of the 2007 season. He arrived in Xiamen on Saturday.
The extra time appeared to pay dividends during the opening round at Orient Golf & Country Club. As Zhou walked the 18th fairway, the big leaderboard in the distance showed him in first place at 3-under. But the scoredboard had yet to record the bogey Zhou registered on No. 17 after teeing off into a clutch of small palm trees. And the scoreboard also had yet to recognize the bogey Zhou was about to score on 18. He left his 55-foot birdie putt short — about 7 feet short — and his par putt stopped one inch from the cup. And thus 3-under quickly became 1-under and the scorekeepers scrambled to remove Zhou’s name from the big board.
Still, Zhou’s 69 put him in a seven-way tie for seventh place, four strokes behind the leader, Wu Kangchun, who shot a 65 despite a double bogey on No. 7.
View the entire leaderboard here.