MANILA, Phillippines -- Hsieh Chin-seng of Taiwan and Steve Bowman of the United States each shot a 4-under-par 68 Thursday to share the first-round lead of the $120,000 Philippine Open.
Hsieh, 25, used his power from the tees to register a bogey-free round with four birdies on the Wack Wack east course.
Bowman, 30, of Tyler, Texas, banked on his putter to card six birdies against two bogeys.
Hsieh, who won the circuit's first leg at the Hong Kong Open last Sunday, was also accurate with his iron shots to birdie the third, fifth and eighth for a 33 on the front nine. His other birdie came on the 13th from one foot.
'I hit my drives straight and my irons were all right,' said Hsieh, a nephew of former Philippine Open champion Hsieh Min-nan.
Bowman said: 'I played well, but my caddie was a great help in sinking my birdie putts.'
Mark Aebly, the 1985 champion and another Texan from San Antonio, birdied three of the last four holes to shoot a 69 and share second place with Yuan Ching-chi of Taiwan and Mexico's Carlos Espinosa.
Lu Chien-soon of Taiwan, who finished second to Hsieh last week in Hong Kong, scored 70 to lead the five-man group, including compatriot Lai Chun-hui, American Kayle Coody, Mexican Esteban Toledo and top Philippine scorer Dan Cruz.
