Malaysian Ervin Chang, Thailand’s Pavit Tangkamolprasert and Chien-yao Hung from Chinese-Taipei seized the lead on the opening day of the Yeangder TPC today shooting stunning eight-under-par 64s.

They top the leaderboard ahead of Japan’s Kazuki Higa, the defending champion, Wei-hsuan Wang from Chinese-Taipei and New Zealander Denzel Ieremia, who all carded 65s – on a day of low scoring at Linkou International Golf & Country Club

Chang’s 64 was the more swashbuckling, so much so that at one point during the round he questioned if he was “doing this correctly”.

Playing in the morning session he took the clubhouse lead making nine birdies and a solitary bogey.

He won the Port Dickson Championship on his home tour in August by the comfortable margin of seven shots and has carried that form through to this week, despite playing golf that was far from regulation.

Pavit Tangkamolprasert.

“My putting and my damage control overall were key today,” said the 28-year-old.

“On hole number seven, my 16th basically as I started on back nine, I actually duffed my tee-shot. Then I had 185 yards to the pin, into the wind, and hit a six iron to 18 feet and made it for birdie.

“On hole number nine, my last hole, I hit my tee shot a little bit left, but the second shot caught a flyer over the green, but I chipped in for birdie. Earlier on three I also chipped in for birdie.

“There were some crazy moments, some moment that just made me wonder, like, am I doing this correctly?”.

He also admitted to cutting back on the amount of time he spends online to help his peace of mind.

He said: “I didn’t look at the scoreboard, and it’s something that I’ve been working on over the last three months. I didn’t cut off social media, but I cut off golf on my social media, on my Instagram, as just because on the golf course it is stressful enough, and I don’t look at golf again after the round.”

The Malaysian tied for third in the Saudi Open at the end of last year and was equal fifth in this year’s Philippine Golf Championship for his best finishes on the Asian Tour and is looking for something similar this week to help improve on his current Order of Merit position, which is 62^nd.

Pavit and Hung both played in the afternoon, catching Chang later in the day.

The former played with a touch of inspiration as his wife Chorphaka Jaengjit, a Thai LPGA professional, is here watching during an important week for them.

Chien-Yao Hung.

He said: “This week is our 20th anniversary of being together. So, it is a very special week for me. I am trying to win for her.”

As well as being a two-time winner on the Asian Tour he has also triumphed a record eight times on the Asian Development Tour, with two of those coming here in Chinese-Taipei.

“I mean, I played here a lot. I love it. I have very good friends here, you know, and all the tea, good food, very happy about yeah about this week.

“My irons were on fire today, kind of like three feet, four feet, left me easy putts.”

The 37-year-old was bogey free today and made an eagle and six birdies.

Hung has come into this week off the back of winning the Ambassador ADT Open on home soil in July. It’s his third victory on the Asian Development Tour, but he is still in search of his first victory on the Asian Tour.

He impressively took the lead despite suffering from cramps on the seventh. He made an eagle and seven birdies before frustratingly dropping his only shot of the day on his final hole, the ninth.

“I bogeyed the last, but I told myself it’s ok,” said Hung.

“I think the main highlight today was how I played through my calf cramps on the last three holes! I was just thinking about how I got it. Did I not drink enough water? Maybe because the weather is cooling that’s why I thought I didn’t need to drink too much.

“I knew it’s easy to make bogeys on the last three holes, so I wasn’t expecting too much. Because of the cramps, I wasn’t able to concentrate as well. I actually had an easy chip on the last, but I didn’t chip well which was a pity. But overall, it’s alright.”

Kazuki Higa.

Helping him to make it through was his wife Nikki, who was caddying for him for the first time since she gave birth to their son earlier this year.

Higa used his victory here last year – which came the week after he claimed the Shinhan Donghae Open in Korea – to help push on and win the Asian Tour Order of Merit title.

He is currently in 113^th place on the Merit list and says this week’s performance will determine how he plans the rest of the season.

Said the 31-year-old: “I know the winner of the Order of Merit will earn a DP World Tour card, but I will see how this week goes before I think about that.”

With the Yeangder Group one of his main sponsors he is also under extra pressure to perform well, and he certainly did that today with five birdies in a row from the ninth.

“It feels like my second home especially as I am sponsored by Yeangder. A lot of people here are cheering for me, so I am trying to manage and enjoy it,” he said.

“I struggled off the tee but had some lucky breaks. From the fairway my wedges were dialled in. Just off the tee it wasn’t stable. I will try and fix it today.”

Malaysia’s Malaysian Khavish Varadan, the current leader of the Asian Development Tour (ADT) Order of Merit, and Jazz Janewattananond from Thailand are in a large group of players in a tie for seventh after shooting 66s.

Despite playing the course for the first time, in the tournament, Varadan made a stunning start. Beginning on the back nine, he eagled the par-five 10^th before making birdies on the next two.

He said: “You know, with the greens, I think I credit my play from the couple of ADTs I played here in Taiwan just to get used to Taiwan golf. I think the golf is different here compared to what I’m used to.

“So, I credit, you know, taking the initiative to come here earlier this summer to play in two events, just to get used to this week and next week, trying to see how I fare around the greens.”

Travis Smyth from Australia, the Asian Tour Order of Merit leader, and Hong Kong’s Taichi Kho, in second place on the Merit list, both fired 68s.

Pictures by Graham Uden/Asian Tour.