England’s Lee Westwood made a flying start to the defence of his CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters title with a seven under par 65.
The World Number Three opened up a two shot lead over Arnond Vongvanij of Thailand at Royale Jakarta Golf Club.
Senior Tour regular Boonchu Ruangkit of Thailand, former Asian Tour number one Jyoti Randhawa of India, Shiv Kapur, Lee Sung of Korea, Zaw Moe of Myanmar and Sam Cyr of the United States were bunched up in tied third place on matching 68s.
Westwood, who took a week’s break after his third place finish at The Masters Tournament, birdied the opening three holes before turning in 31 and adding three birdies and one bogey on his inward nine.
“I had a break last week and hardly hit any balls,” he said. “I played a lot of golf earlier this year and needed a rest.
“It was good to go home and recharge my batteries because the Masters always takes a lot out of you. It is physically and mentally very demanding.”
