Thailand's Sattaya Supupramai produced a seven-under-par 63 on Thursday to take a two-shot lead into the second round of the King’s Cup presented by PTT Group.
Supupramai, who was among the early starters at Phoenix Gold Golf Club, carded eight birdies and a solitary bogey to storm to the top of the leaderboard.
He went into the clubhouse with a three-shot advantage over the chasing pack but was reined in later in the day as Gaganjeet Bhullar, America's Tom Johnson and Italy's Francesco Laporta posted rounds of 65.
Supupramai got off to a flying start, making gains at the first and third holes before back-to-back birdies at the fifth and sixth took him to four under.
He dropped his only shot of the day at the ninth but bounced back straight away, picking up shots at the tenth and 11th before adding further birdies on the 14th and 16th.
Supupramai, who was struggling with a stiff neck before going out on course, was thrilled with his performance.
He said: "I’m very pleased with how I played today. Actually I woke up with a very stiff neck this morning and felt really uncomfortable.
"The physios did a great job with their massages and I felt really good - Sattaya Supupramai
"I’ve played on this course on a few occasions so I have a bit of local knowledge which can be advantageous. I've just got to stay relaxed throughout the week and it should be okay."
Bhullar, starting his round at the tenth tee, opened with back-to-back birdies before dropping a shot at the 12th.
He recovered quickly, however, notching a birdie at the 14th before safely parring the next four holes to reach the turn in 33.
After picking up a shot at the second, Bhullar carded an eagle at the sixth to propel himself up the leaderboard. Another birdie at the eighth saw him briefly reduce Supupramai's lead to one stroke but he dropped a shot at the ninth to fall back to five under.
After his round, Bhullar said: "I’m not really satisfied as I could have done better. But I’ll definitely take it as I’m playing on this golf course for the first time and it’s really treacherous - especially the greens.
"A lot of the pins on my back-nine were tucked in the corners and it was hard to go for the flags.
"But overall, I played really solid as I hit lots of greens in regulation and I gave myself lots of birdie opportunities." - Gaganjeet Bhullar
Rookie Laporta, also beginning at the tenth, opened his round with a birdie before making back-to-back gains at the 16th and 17th to reach the turn in 32.
The Italian dropped a shot at the short second but made amends with birdies at the third, fourth and sixth to finish the day two shots off the lead.
Meanwhile, Johnson made an eagle, five birdies and two bogeys in his opening round to join the group on five under.
Mardan Mamat, Kevin Techakanokboom, Terry Pilkadaris, Jazz Janewattananond and Natipong Srithong are in a share of fifth place on four under.
