Angelo Que of the Philippines wielded a hot putter to take a four-stroke clubhouse lead at the end of a weather-affected first day of the Enjoy Jakarta Indonesia Open.
Que needed just 20 putts to card an eight under par 64 at the New Kuta Golf Club, which put him on top in the event co-sanctioned by The European Tour and Asian Tour.
Que’s closest pursuers in the clubhouse were Filipino compatriot Antonio Lascuna, England’s Simon Khan, Jamie Donaldson of Wales, Scotland’s Richie Ramsay and Australians Andrew Dodt and Tony Carolan, who all shot 68s in their opening rounds.
Former Indonesia Open winner Simon Dyson was also on four under through 16 holes, but will had to return to the course along with 41 other players to complete his opening round after heavy rain and the threat of lightning resulted in a two-hour stoppage.
Dyson completed his remaining three holes in level par, but dropped a shot early in his second round to move back to three under par alongside Thailand’s Chapchai Nirat, who picked up a shot early in his second round.
Rhys Davies of Wales, Alexander Noren of Sweden, India’s Digvijay Singh, Korean teenager Noh Seung-yul and the English trio of Richard Finch, Steve Webster and Miles Tunnicliff all finished their first rounds on three under par after carding rounds of 69.
Que, who had not teed off when play was halted early in the morning, felt the lengthy stoppage worked in his favour.
“It was great! I was able to take my time during the delay, had a cup of coffee and chatted with my friends,” said the 30 year old from Manila. “It helped me to relax.”
When play eventually resumed just after 9am, the Filipino teed off on the back nine and birdied his first hole, the tenth, before parring the next three.
But a 40 footer on the 14th sparked a run of four consecutive birdies which put him on top of the leaderboard on five under par at the turn.
Further birdies followed on the first and third holes before Que enjoyed a lucky break on the fifth, where he pulled his tee shot into long grass to the left of the fairway but discovered his plugged ball with some help from a television crew and made par.
He made another birdie to sign for a round of 64, although it will not count as a course record due to the use of preferred lies.
“I’m very, very pleased with how I played today – I couldn’t have asked for a better start,” said the two-time Asian Tour winner.
“The breaks were on my side today. I almost lost my ball on the fifth hole but the TV camera was on me the whole time, and they saw where it was so I was able to make it up and down for par. I was really lucky, that’s all I can say.”
Khan also began well with birdies on three of his first four holes and reached the turn on three under par.
He dropped a shot with a bogey on the 12th hole, but birdies on the 14th and 16th put him in position to challenge for his first European Tour win since the 2004 Wales Open.
“I played really nicely, particularly at the start of my round,” said the 36 year old.
“I could’ve been four under after four holes, if my putt on the third hadn’t lipped out. Then I had a bit of a wobble, but recovered very nicely towards the end. So overall, I’ve got to be pretty pleased.”
After a poor run of results, Ramsay enjoyed a bogey-free outing which he credited to an improvement in his short game.
“The secret of my success is the practice I’ve done with my short game, and that showed with my ability to get up and down today,” said the 25 year old Challenge Tour graduate.
“I know it’s my weakness, and I also know that when I sort it out, I’ll be up there challenging. Off the tee, I played really well - I think I only missed one or two fairways all day which, when you take into account the breeze out there at times, I’ve got to be pretty pleased with."
Rafael Cabrera Bello had the tournament’s first hole in one on the 140 yard par three 15th en route to a one under par 71.
Thai ace Thongchai Jaidee also shot 71, while Nick Dougherty recovered from a poor start with three birdies on his back nine for a level par 72.
