Khalin Joshi fired a six-under 66 in the first round to grab a share of the lead at USD 160,000 Taifong Open here today.
The 22-year-old Joshi, who needed just 23 putts for the round, closed his round with three birdies in a row to share the lead with Casey O'Toole of the United States, who also shot 66.
Two other Indians -- Himmat Rai (72) at tied 32nd and Feroze Garewal (75) at tied 85th place -- are also in the field.
Joshi and O'Toole grabbed a one-shot lead over Rory Hie of Indonesia, David Gleeson of Australia and local stalwart Lin Wen-tang.
"My putter has let me down in the last few events but I've been training hard and it is starting to pay off. I was very confident on the greens. I think I'll have a good week if the putter and ball striking hold up," Joshi, who finished tied second in Bangladesh on the Asian Tour in May and was sixth at the ADT event in Bali, said.
Playing in his first round of competitive golf in slightly over a month, O'Toole struggled early in the round before hitting four straight birdies from the 15th hole. He added two more birdies on 16 and 18.
Taipei-based Gleeson, who is a three-time Asian Tour winner, took advantage of a two-week holiday in his hometown in Queenstown, Australia to produce his best score since 2012.
Since it was inaugurated in 2010, the ADT has grown from five events in the first year to a record 21 tournaments in 2014.
The ADT has announced a provisional 2015 schedule of a minimum 24 tournaments with several more to be announced in due course. The ADT will continue to reward the top-five finishers on the Order of Merit at the end of this season with Asian Tour cards for 2016.
With the Olympics scheduled in 2016, where golf will be reintroduced as a medal sport, players of the region could earn their Rio Games berths by earning Official World Golf Ranking points through the Asian Tour and ADT.
