Indian golfer Himmat Rai carded two-under 70 to take the tied 21st position after the opening round of the Ciputra Golfpreneur Tournament at the Damai Indah Golf, BSD course here on Wednesday.
Himmat got birdies on the fourth and 16th holes in a flawless round that saw him share the spot with 16 other golfers in the first round at the $100,000 Asian Development Tour (ADT) event.
Rookie Gavin Green of Malaysia bounced back from a disappointing defeat as he fired a seven-under 65 to lead by one shot. The 21-year-old blew a five-shot lead on home soil a fortnight ago but showed no signs of a hangover.
He got birdies on the first, fourth, sixth, eighth, 10th, 13th and 17th along with a six-foot eagle on the par-five 18th hole against bogeys on the third and fifth.
Gyeongjun Lee of Korea, Mitchell Slorach of Singapore, Sutijet Kooratanapisa of Thailand, Jordan Sherratt of Australia and Jarin Todd of the United States were bunched up in second place on 66s.
Defending champion James Byrne of Scotland, Danny Chia of Malaysia and Danthai Boonma of Thailand were a further shot back in tied seventh place.
