Singapore: A stunning birdie barrage from Hiroshi Tai saw Singapore spirits sky-rocket on the opening day of the 34th World Amateur Team Championship (WATC).

On a hot and humid morning at Tanah Merah Country Club during which the much-vaunted United States team wilted, it was home favourite Tai who stole the show with an accomplished performance.

“That was pretty memorable,” said Singapore’s number one, a senior at Georgia Tech University, after signing for a seven-under-par 65, a round that included eight birdies and a solitary bogey.

“Playing at home and playing well, it’s always nice. So hopefully the next few days, for all of us, it works out nicely,” added Tai, whose brilliant display deserved to be witnessed by more than the handful of officials who accompanied him around the Tampines Course.

As well as taking him to the top of the individual standings in the 36-nation Eisenhower Trophy, Tai’s effort saw Singapore briefly atop the leaderboard in the team event.

With Brayden Lee contributing a 76, Singapore posted a team total of 141. With just the leading two scores in each three-man team being tallied, Troy Storm’s 84 was discounted. At the end of round one, the hosts are tied for fourth place behind only Mexico (137), South Africa (139) and France (140).

Setting out from the 10th tee in the first flight of the day at 7.15 am, Tai was immediately into his groove, making birdies at 11 and 12. It was at the par-three 16th, though, that the fireworks began as Tai embarked on a run of six birdies in seven holes.

At eight-under through 12 holes, the 23-year-old appeared set to challenge the course record 64 set by Spaniard David Puig en route to his maiden professional win at the International Series Singapore in 2023.

However, those hopes evaporated when he bogeyed the seventh – his 16th of the day. There, he pulled his tee shot into a hazard and was forced to take a penalty drop. This came just a couple of holes after his group was put on the clock having fallen behind schedule.

Aside from the pace of play warning, there was plenty for Tai to be content with. His assessment: “I hit pretty good tee shots that put me in good spots to make good approach shots into the green. I could be pretty aggressive with some of the wedge shots that I had, getting good numbers. And then I made some nice birdie putts as well. Overall, pretty good and really happy with how I played.”

Bidding to lead Singapore to its best-ever WATC finish, Tai is becoming accustomed to making history. In 2024 he was the first player from Asia to win the NCAA Division I Men’s Individual Championship. Since then he’s become the first Singaporean to compete in the US Open and Masters Tournament.

Given that he’s planning to turn professional next year, Tai is determined to help Singapore eclipse its previous best WATC finish of 22nd, achieved in Paris in 2022 on his Eisenhower Trophy debut.

Following his round and media duties, Tai turned cheerleader, watching his team-mates conclude their rounds. He said: “I’m glad the two younger guys get to have some good experience playing in a big amateur event like this. They are a lot younger than I was when I first played in this tournament, so I’m sure, no matter how the next three days go, this will be pretty memorable for them.”

Singapore captain Murray Smit was full of admiration for Tai. He said: “I think Hiroshi’s round was just out of this world. To shoot seven-under on this golf course shows why he's one of the top amateurs in the world, and why he's won some of the biggest events.”

While Tai was flourishing on familiar territory, the American trio of Amateur Championship winner Ethan Fang, US Amateur champion Mason Howell and US Amateur medallist Preston Stout found themselves in the unaccustomed position of languishing in equal 32nd place, level with Panama and in front only of Estonia, Zimbabwe and Guam.

Howell, Stout and Fang were all members of the victorious 2025 US Walker Cup Team at Cypress Point Club, while Fang and Stout are second and third in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, the top-rated players in the field here.

With three rounds remaining, there’s still ample time for them to repair the damage of three opening 75s that leaves them 13 strokes adrift of the pace-setting Mexican team of Carlos Astiazaran, Eduardo Derbez and Gerardo Gomez.

However, if their attempt to become the first country to win consecutive WATC titles since the US last did so in 2012 and 2014 falls short, Fang, in particular, may have cause to rue his pre-event comments that: “I think we’re all ready to roll and do our best and kick some ass.”

Leading Team Scores

137 – Mexico (Carlos Astiazaran 68; Eduardo Derbez 69; Gerardo Gomez 73)
139 – South Africa (Christiaan Maas 66; Daniel Bennett 73; Charl Barnard 75)
140 – France (Hugo Le Goff 70; Oscar Couilleau 70; Louis Anceaux 73)
141 – Australia (Declan O’Donovan 70; Billy Dowling 71; Harry Takis 71); Czechia (Timotej Formanek 69; Filip Jakubcik 72; Stepan Plasek 75); Singapore (Hiroshi Tai 65; Brayden Lee 76; Troy Storm 84); Sweden (Filip Fahlberg Johnsson 69; Simon Hovdal 72; Alfons Bondesson 76)
142 – England (Charlie Forster 71; Eliot Baker 71; Tyler Weaver 73); Italy (Filippo Ponzano 71; Michele Ferrero 71; Riccardo Fantinelli 73); Netherlands (Nevill Ruiter 70; Guus Lafeber 72; Benjamin Reuter 73); Paraguay (Erich Fortlage 70; Franco Fernandez 72; Benjamin Fernandez 75); Thailand (Parin Sarasmut 70; Pongsapak Laopakdee 72; Arsit Areephun 74)

Selected Team Scores

144 – China (Zhou Ziqin 71; Wu Qiyou 73; Wang Haoyi 74); New Zealand (Robby Turnbull 71; Zack Swanwick 73; Cooper Moore 76)
145 – India (Rakshit Dahiya 72; Deepak Yadav 73; Arin Ahuja 75); Japan (Rintaro Nakano 71, Taisei Nagasaki 74; Gumma Tamura 75)
149 – Indonesia (Amadeus Susanto 74; Randy Bintang 75; Asa Najib 78); Vietnam (Nguyen Anh Minh 73; Ho Anh Huy 76; Nguyen Duc Son 76)
150 – United States (Mason Howell 75; Preston Stout 75; Ethan Fang 75)
156 – Guam (Markus Nanpei 75; Ivan Sablan 81; Redge Camacho 82)

Leading Individual Scores 

65 – Hiroshi Tai (Singapore)
66 – Christiaan Maas (South Africa)
68 – Carlos Astiazaran (Mexico)
69 – Eduardo Derbez (Mexico); Timotej Formanek (Czechia); Filip Fahlberg Johnsson (Sweden); Michael Mjaaseth (Norway)
70 – Oscar Couilleau (France); Erich Fortlage (Paraguay); Hugo Le Goff (France); Ashton McCulloch (Canada); Declan O’Donovan (Australia); Parin Sarasmut (Thailand); Nevill Ruiter (Netherlands)

Selected Individual Scores 

71 – Eliot Baker (England); Billy Dowling (Australia); Michele Ferrero (Italy); Charlie Forster (England); Rintaro Nakano (Japan); Filippo Ponzano (Italy); Harry Takis (Australia); Robby Turnbull (New Zealand); Zhou Ziqin (China)
72 – Rakshit Dahiya (India); Franco Fernandez (Paraguay); Simon Hovdal (Sweden); Filip Jakubcik (Czechia); Guus Lafeber (Netherlands); Pongsapak Laopakdee (Thailand)
73 – Daniel Bennett (South Africa); Nguyen Anh Minh (Vietnam); Zack Swanwick (New Zealand); Wu Qiyou (China); Deepak Yadav (India)
74 – Arsit Areephun (Thailand); Taisei Nagasaki (Japan); Amadeus Susanto (Indonesia); Wang Haoyi (China)
75 – Arin Ahuja (India); Charl Barnard (South Africa); Randy Bintang (Indonesia); Ethan Fang (US); Mason Howell (US); Markus Nanpei (Guam); Preston Stout (US); Gumma Tamura (Japan)
76 – Ho Anh Huy (Vietnam); Brayden Lee (Singapore); Cooper Moore (New Zealand); Nguyen Duc Son (Vietnam)
78 – Asa Najib (Indonesia)
81 – Ivan Sablan (Guam)
82 – Redge Camacho (Guam)
84 – Troy Storm (Singapore)