Young guns Troy Storm, Brayden Lee spearhead local charge at Moutai Singapore Open

SINGAPORE – At just 16, national golfer Troy Storm is the youngest player at the Nov 6-9 Moutai Singapore Open, which is also his first professional tournament.

But the teenager’s performance at the US$2 million (S$2.6 million) tournament has belied his youth, with the Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) student making the cut at the International Series event.

With an even-par 72 in the second round on Nov 7, Troy claimed a share of 50th spot alongside six others – including LIV golfer and three-time Ryder Cup winner Paul Casey (70) – at the Singapore Island Country Club (SICC).

Troy was both the leading local and amateur at tied-10th in the previous day, after firing an opening 67.

Also earning a weekend berth is compatriot and fellow amateur Brayden Lee, with the duo spearheading the charge for Singapore as the only golfers from the 11-strong contingent to finish above the four-under cut line.

Lee improved on his first-round 69 with a 68 to reach a seven-under 137 total, heading into the weekend as the leading Singaporean golfer at tied-24th with 16 others.

South Korea’s Lee Soo-min leads on 12 under after shooting a 64 in the second round, and is two shots ahead of a group of 10 players on tied-second.

On competing in his first professional tournament, Troy said: “It definitely is very different, especially here at SICC, my home course, with my parents watching and a few of my friends watching.

“It definitely feels really nice, the support out there, also playing with a couple of pros who are definitely a lot more experienced and learning a lot from them.”

The world No. 457 amateur took some time to settle into the second round, posting three bogeys in the first 13 holes.

But he bounced back, registering three birdies in the closing four holes to salvage par.

“I didn’t get off to a great start (on Nov 7) but I just kept fighting,” he said. “I couldn’t get many putts to fall but just stayed in there, trusted myself and in the end it showed and the results came,” he said.

He is now hoping to wrap up the tournament with a good showing over the weekend.

He noted that there was much to learn from his first two rounds, playing alongside professionals like Bangladesh’s two-time Asian Tour winner Siddikur Rahman (76) and China’s Chen Guxin (73), who finished joint-103rd and tied-118th respectively.

Their short game left a deep impression on him as it is an area that he is looking to improve on.

While encouraged by a strong start to the competition, Brayden, who played in the 2022 Singapore Open, still believes he has more to learn as he goes into the weekend.

On his experience at the tournament, the 18-year-old said: “I wouldn’t say I could (compete against the pros), it’s still a work in progress.

“But it is progressing quite well – being able to shoot these kinds of scores in Asian Tour conditions shows my ability.”

He added: “I missed some putts out there, hit some bad shots, so the score could’ve easily improved and I’m looking forward to that.”

It was a full circle moment for the ACS (I) student, who participated in the Beat the Pro challenge at the 2017 Singapore Open, pitting himself against the likes of former world No. 1 Adam Scott.

Since then, the world No. 300 amateur has established himself as one of Singapore’s promising golfing talents,

with clinching the Royal Junior in April

in Japan among his accolades.

He said: “I was just aspiring to play in such a high-calibre event, but getting the opportunity from the Singapore Golf Association to play this event is an honour.”

National coach Murray Smit praised the two teenagers, crediting their performance to the exposure they have gained from major events.

Smit said: “Some nice resilience from the boys hanging in there all the way till the end and really excited for them to have the opportunity to play the weekend.

“Hopefully they can learn a lot from playing with the pros this week and that will allow them to prepare for other big events going forward.”