India’s Anirban Lahiri and Kevin Yuan from Australia may have started on different nines today but they both finished with brilliant eight-under-par 62s to take the first-round lead in the Link Hong Kong Open.

The duo reeled off nine birdies and one bogey each here on the Composite Course at the Hong Kong Golf Club – in the penultimate event of the season on the Asian Tour.

Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond, looking for a good week to challenge for the Asian Tour Order of Merit (OOM) title, and Poosit Supupramai are tied second following 63s.

Building on Hong Kong’s winning performances in two of the region’s premier amateur team competitions recently, the Nomura and Putra Cups, Isaac Lam and Matthew Cheung are next best placed following 64s, along with Korean Minkyu Kim and Yosuke Asaji from Japan.

Lahiri is a former OOM champion, having triumphed in 2015, and also a seven-time winner on the Asian Tour but is looking for his first title since the 2015 Indian Open, which came a week after the won the Malaysian Open.

Kevin Yuan.

“Very happy, very happy,” said 39-year-old, who tied for 23^rd in last week’s DP World India Championship.

“I think, you know, playing last week at home, I had a good weekend where I started getting into a decent rhythm. Obviously, a lot of time off after my last event on LIV.

“I had some time to kind of take a break. Started working back on my game a few weeks ago. So, yeah, been hard at work, and yeah, I’m happy to kind of bring that same kind of momentum and rhythm into this week from last weekend.”

He started on the first, and played the front nine in two under, with his only dropped shot of the day coming on the fifth. The back nine was a picture of consistency with birdies on 10 and 11, 13 and 14, and 17 and 18.

“I think I did a good job of keeping it in play. Kept it mostly in the fairway, I think that’s key to control the ball. I mean, the golf course is quite firm, it’s probably going to get firmer through the week. So, if you can keep finding the short grass, you’ll give yourself a lot of looks. I made a few more putts today from outside of 10 feet, nothing crazy, but I gave myself a lot of looks. I mean, I know I made nine birdies, but there were at least another five or six inside 15 feet that didn’t go in. So, you know, that’s a really solid ball striking round overall.”

Yuan arrives here having made the cut in the past five events and is well placed in 33^rd position on the OOM, as he continues to go in search of his first victory on the Asian Tour.

Jazz Janewattananond.

“Definitely, things went my way,” he said having started on the back half.

“The swing felt a lot better today than it’s been in a long time, which I’m happy about, and hopefully I’ll keep this form. There are still things that I do need to just watch out for, because I have shown like this year has been up and down for me. I’ve had some good moments and some bad moments, so hopefully I’ll just keep the momentum from today.”

Considered to be one of the best ball strikers on the Asian Tour, he showed that on the long and difficult par-four ninth, where he made a birdie.

He said: “I hit some great shots today. Like on hole number nine, one of the hardest holes on the golf course. Hit two great shots, like great tee shot, had 204 to the pin, and hit probably the best four iron I’ve had all year. Gave myself a six-footer for birdie, and I made a great putt there to birdie it.”

Jazz outshone his illustrious playing partners England’s Lee Westwood and Kevin Na from the United States with back-to-back eagles on 13 and 14, a par five and par four respectively.

“I think I never done it before, so it’s the first one,” he said.

“Pretty simple, actually, on the par five just drove down the middle, hit six iron on the green, and made the putt from like 20 feet, I would say. So really, really good eagle, very standard.

Pavit Tangkamolprasert gets some ice treatment from his wife, Chorphaka Jaengji.

“And the next one, I just hit three wood off the tee, had 126 yards left, I think. I hit my pitching wedge and I thought it was long because it was quite gusty with the wind. And when I got up, it was two balls, one on the back, one on just short of the hole. So I went straight to the back of the back of the green, just to see if it’s my ball. But they were like, “No, no, no, your ball is back there”, so I had to walk back and pick up my ball.”

Sitting in ninth place on the OOM he has an outside chance of winning this year’s Merit title, which he claimed back in 2019.

He is 632.9 points behind the OOM leader, his compatriot Pavit Tangkamolprasert, and with 787.5 going to the winner this week he can close the gap with one event remaining, the Philippine Open presented by Philippines Sports Commission in two weeks.

That would depend on where Pavit finishes this week. He returned a 69, a fine effort considering he was hit by ball on the third. Australian Harrison Crowe’s tee shot from the first left a firm imprint in the top of Pavit’s left leg, fortunately causing no serious damage. The Thai star went on to make five birdies, one double and two bogeys. He is attempting to win the OOM for the first time and will need to make the cut this week to help fend of his closest challengers.