India's S S P Chawrasia took the early honours by carding a five-under-par 65 to take the first round lead at the UBS Hong Kong Open today.
The six-time Asian Tour winner led by one over England's Matthew Fitzpatrick and compatriot Shubhankar Sharma after overcoming the tricky windy conditions at the Hong Kong Golf Club in the morning.
Starting on the back-nine 11, Chawrasia birdied holes 11, 13, 16 and 18. He showed his accuracy again when his approach at the par five third landed within four feet of the hole where he would birdie again to move to five-under.
The Indian dropped a shot on five but recovered quickly with another birdie on nine to stay ahead of the chasing pack at the US 2 million event.
Fresh from his maiden Asian Tour win in the Philippines a fortnight ago, Korean-American Micah Lauren Shin continued to show his good form when he returned with a 67 to take a share of fourth place that includes Thailand's Poom Saksansin and Philippines' Angelo Que.
Malaysias Danny Chia also ensured a strong Asian Tour presence atop the leaderboard when he returned with a 68 to trail Chawrasia by three shots in tied-11th place that included Major winner Justin Rose of England.
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