Locke takes early lead, Salvador trails by one

American Brian Locke put a damper on Filipino Elmer Salvador’s aim of defending his title when he carded an opening day six-under 66 yesterday for a one stroke lead at the start of the Aboitiz Invitational at the Cebu Country Club (CCC).
Salvador was a shot back after a 67.
Locke will hold on to the lead despite three groups unable to finish their first round after the tournament was interrupted and delayed for two hours by a sudden heavy downpour.
Play will resume at 7 a.m. today, still at the CCC.
Locke remained focused despite the delay. He was at four-under after 15 holes then holed back-to-back birdies for his day’s tally.
The $65,000 event serves as the 8th leg of the Asian Development Tour.
Salvador opened with three birdies from No. 1 but lost some ground after a bogey on the 9th.
“It’s a good start but it’s tough to play under such condition since the preferred lies rule only applies on the fairway. If you drove to the rough, it will be hard to recover,” Salvador said.
Three players are a shot back Salvador with identical 68s including Filipinos Reymon Jaraula and Mars Pucay and Australian Darren Tan.
Cebu’s LJ Go opened with a 69, the same output of the Bayron brothers two-time champion Jay and Rufino, Malcolm Kokoconski of Sweden, Guido Van der Valk of The Netherlands and Lindsay Reynolds of Canada. /with reports from pr