Jakarta , February 14: Australia 's David Bransdon and Joost Luiten of The Netherlands set the early pace when they shared the first round clubhouse lead in the weather-disrupted Enjoy Jakarta Astro Indonesia Open on Thursday.
Bransdon, an Asian Tour regular, and the unheralded Luiten battled the wet and windy conditions at Cengkareng Golf Club to return matching six-under par 64s and lead by one-stroke at the US$1.2 million co-sanctioned event between the Asian Tour and European Tour.
Asian Tour number one Liang Wen-chong of China is among those bunched in joint-third place after a 65. India 's Jeev Milkha Singh and Thailand 's Prayad Marksaeng are also among those in third place.
A total of 42 players did not complete their rounds and will return early Friday to complete the first round.
Bransdon fired seven birdies against a lone bogey on a rain-soaked Cengkareng Golf course.
“I putted really well, drove the ball well too. So it's a pretty satisfying start,” said the Australian. “I made four birdies in a row (from the fourth hole) which got me going and put me right up there.”
Luiten also wielded a hot putter like his co-leader. “It was quite tough with the wind (in the morning) but my putter was pretty hot. I just hit a lot of greens and fairways and gave myself a lot of birdie opportunities,” said Luiten.
“I want to win tournaments so you have to go for the pins. That's what I did today and it paid off with a lot of birdies.”
Liang's early season form also got off to a good start when he came out of the blocks with four birdies on the front nine before closing with a total of seven birdies against two bogeys.
“I played well today. My putting has been good. Most of my shots have landed close to the pins and I think there are many positives that I can take from that. Hopefully, I can further improve on my score tomorrow,” said Liang, who won once and registered eight top-10s last season.
Thai hotshot Prayad, winner of the season-ending Volvo Masters of Asia on homesoil, lived up to his favourite tag when he posted a bogey free round but will be hoping for better weather conditions for the rest of the week.
“The rain has caused the course to become very wet. That really affected my short game as I underestimated the strength of my chips. Hopefully, it will get better tomorrow,” said Prayad.
Singh, Asia 's number one in 2006 after a magical season which saw him win four times around the world, ignited his title charge with a solid ball-striking display, closing his round with a birdie on the 18 th hole.
After what he termed as an average season last year, Singh is hoping to regain his winning ways. “I'm not really thinking about it (winning). I'm just going to go through my process, follow my routine and see what comes my way.
“I have started very well which is encouraging but we will have to wait and see what happens over the next three days.”
Indonesia 's Denny Supriadi and Suprapto gave the home crowd something to cheer about as they edged closer to becoming the first Indonesians to make the cut since 2005 by finishing in joint-18 th after matching rounds of 67.
Defending champion Mikko Ilonen of Finland open his campaign with a 66 for tied 10 th position. Thailand 's Thaworn Wiratchant, the 2005 Indonesia Open champion, overcame a sluggish start to shoot a 67 while Ryder Cup stars Darren Clarke and Paul McGinley shot 68s.
Leading first round scores:
64 - Joost Luiten (NLD), David Bransdon (AUS)
65 - Liang Wen-Chong (CHN), Jeev Milkha Singh (IND), Prayad Marksaeng (THA), Juan Abbate (ARG), Kyron Sullivan (WAL), Philip Golding (ENG), Felipe Aguilar (CHI)
66 - Adam Blyth (AUS), Scott Barr (AUS), Marcus Both (AUS),Rhys Davies (WAL),Thomas Aiken (RSA), Prom Meesawat (THA), Edoardo Molinari (ITA), Mikko Ilonen (FIN)
67 - Unho Park (AUS), Angelo Que (PHI), Mark Bro (NZL), Denny Supriadi (INA),Suprapto [A] (INA), Liam Bond (WAL),Thaworn Wiratchant (THA)
Other Scores:
67 - Denny Supriadi (INA), Suprapto (INA)
68 - Darren Clarke (NIR), Jyoti Randhawa ( IND ), Paul Mcginley (IRL)
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