American golfer Peter Uihlein fired himself into the lead on the first day of the True Thailand Classic, leapfrogging Pelle Edberg who stumbled with two bogeys late in the day.
Sweden’s Edberg had an impressive 15 opening holes, leading the pack on nine under par at the European Tour course.
But two bogeys in his last three enabled Uihlein to overtake him, ending the day with an impressive but not unassailable eight-under-par 64.
He’ll begin the second day one shot ahead of Edberg, and two shots ahead of Scotland’s Scott Jamieson and Spain’s Javier Colomo. A cluster of nine golfers, including David Lipsky and Shaun Norris are three shots behind on 67.
Uihlein said he had just come back from a recent holiday where he hadn’t picked up a club.
“I just rocked up here. You come up here with a clean slate and a fresh start,” he said, according to a report from tour organisers.
Defending champion Andrew Dodt ended day one way down the pack, one over par on 73. He had earlier told reporters he was suffering from a bug.
Local favourite Thongchai Jaidee, who shot a first round 69, is also getting over a virus he picked up in Malaysia, according to tour organisers.
Leading first-round scores
64-Peter Uihlein (USA)
65-Pelle Edberg (SWE)
66-Scott Jamieson (SCO); Javier Colomo (ESP)
67-Gary Boyd (ENG); Robert Dinwiddie (ENG); Hsieh Chi-hsien (TPE); Rhys Davies (WAL); Simon Yates (SCO); David Lipsky (USA); Shaun Norris (RSA); Pariya Junhasavasdikul (THA); Prayad Marksaeng (THA).