Malaysia’s Amir Nazrin overcame a shaky start to set the early pace at the PKNS Selangor Masters on Wednesday, recovering from a first hole bogey to claim a final score of 65 and a lead of two strokes in the first round.

A powerful closing stretch with five birdies in seven holes set him apart from his nearest contenders, Thailand’s Denwit Boriboonsub and fellow Malaysian Shariffuddin Ariffin, who each posted a four-under 67.

Edven Ying, also of Malaysia, was part of the afternoon wave and joined the group in second place as play drew to a close at the par 71 Seri Selangor course.

Shahriffuddin Ariffin

England’s Joe Heraty leads a group in fifth place on three under, joined by Lloyd Jefferson Go of the Philippines, Malaysia’s Galven Green and Suttjet Kooratanapisan of Thailand.

Chonlatit Chuenboonngam of Thailand sits in solo ninth place at two under, with a big group in joint 10th on one under par, including Varanyu Rattanaphiboonkij of Thailand, England’s Joshua Grenville-Wood, Singapore’s Gregory Foo, Jack Murdoch of Australia, America’s Van Thomas and the Malaysian trio of veteran Danny Chia, Leunkwang Kim and amateur Hariz Hezri.

Joe Heraty

Japanese amateur Daichi Hayashi, only 12 years old, set a new record as the event got underway, becoming the youngest ever to tee it up on tour. The previous record was set by Malaysia’s Gavin Green at 13 when he started in the Iskandar Johor Open.

The Japanese youngster, who posted a first round score of 82, has quite a bit of work to do to break his next record, that of Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond.

In 2010, the 2019 Order of Merit winner became the youngest player ever to make the halfway cut in an Asian Tour event, playing the weekend as an amateur at the age of 14 years, 71 days.