Thailand’s Sarit Suwannarut fired an opening five-under-par 66 to take the lead in the Asian Tour’s International Series England at Close House, near Newcastle, as some of LIV Golf’s big names lurked near the top of the leaderboard.

He fired six birdies and one bogey in nasty conditions on the Colt Course, to finish the day one in front of American Liv-er Jason Kokrak and Jaewoong Eom from Korea.

Germany’s Dominic Foos and Suradit Yongcharoenchai from Thailand returned 68s, while LIV Golf and Ryder Cup star Ian Poulter was in group of 10 players on 69.

Sarit played a practice round here with countryman Pavit Tangkamolprasert before last year’s England event, which was played at a different venue, and said: “Maybe that helped a little bit today, there was more rain that time.”

He started on the back nine on Thursday, and birdied 10, and 14 before a brilliant two on the 18th — a difficult 185-yard par-three, that could be the scene of much drama come Sunday. He dropped a shot on the second, but recovered with gains on three, six and eight.

“I have been hitting it really well,” he said. “Today was just about the putting, it is all about the putting. Still need to fix my long putting, I might practice that.”

Sarit triumphed for the first time on the Asian Tour last year, at the season-ending Indonesian Masters, but has struggled this year, until a top-10 finish in the Indonesia Open two weeks ago.

“I had an injury at the beginning of the year, at first it was a back injury, then I got sick, I got Covid, I also had neck and wrist problems,” said the 25-year-old, who was also laid low by Covid last year.

“I took a lot of time off to repair my body, to not get into trouble with injury again, I think that’s worked.”

Kokrak, a three-time winner on the PGA Tour including two in 2021, finished strongly with birdies on 16 and 17.

“Very happy with that,” said the 38-year-old. “I thought I was going along well but not really making any putts. I was hitting it well but thought I should be more under par. Made a couple there at the end, happy with it.

“The course is wet and super long. I would love to see this place really bouncy.”

Ian Poulter. Asian Tour

Englishman Poulter was happy to get in the clubhouse among the leaders after a rough second half.

“Damage limitation,” said Poulter. “Obviously, three-under through nine and cruising but bogeyed the first hole which is my 10th, a par five, is suicide, frustrating to do that. I shanked it down four which is not ideal, nearly made par, and had another bogey on the par three with a pulled eight iron, I was in the middle of the fairway there. Dropping three shots on that nine was poor.”

His son, Luke, an amateur, started well with a 72 although made costly mistakes with the short stick.

Poulter Sr said: “He’s one over, he had four three putts. He will probably slap himself around the head, so he has obviously played good golf, and he has not done his job on the putting green. He is a good golfer, and great he is in the field this week.”

His compatriot, fellow LIV Golfer and playing partner Lee Westwood, who is the Touring Professional for Close House, also looked set to be among the front runners but made a double on his third from last hole and came in with a 70.

American Andy Ogletree, who currently leads the Asian Tour and International Series Order of Merits, signed for a 72, while Thailand’s Nitithorn Thippong, who claimed the Mandiri Indonesia Open two weeks ago, shot 73.

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Sarit Suwannarut marked his opening round of 64 at the Indonesia Open with two stunning eagles to take a one stroke lead into Friday at Pondok Indah Golf Club in Jakarta.

It was the first time Sarit has hit two eagles in a tournament round, and he is now looking for the double after winning the Indonesian Masters at the end of last year.

“I’m feeling really good, feeling comfortable. It’s been a challenging year. Play has not been really good in the first half but I’m feeling better now so hopefully I can keep going,” he said after his round.

From way downtown ??

Sarit Suwannarut sinks this on 18 for his second eagle of the day and signs for a 64 to lead by one ?https://t.co/QQChqRrghk #MandiriInOpen2023 #whereitsAT pic.twitter.com/wggVSQj2ww

— Asian Tour (@asiantourgolf) August 3, 2023

Five birdies and one bogey saw Sarit post an eight-under 64 at the  $500,000 Asian Tour event.

“My driver and irons were all right today, but the main thing was the putting, it was really good,” he said. “I saw the line on every hole, and everything seemed to drop.

“On the last, the tee shot wasn’t good, in the left bunker, but I got a good lie and hit it to the front of the green. I made the putt somehow,” he laughed.

Korea’s Woohyun Kim (65), who took advantage of an unexpected eagle in the morning session to post the early clubhouse lead on seven-under, said he appreciated his good fortune but felt he was ready to compete after a disappointing showing at the event last year.

Starting on the back nine, he set the early pace by scoring four birdies, including a run of three on his way to the par five 18th hole, but the hole-out from around 30 yards caught him by surprise.

“It was a good start today, I made birdie on the first hole. On the 18th, I thought my third shot was a little bit long but the bounce was soft and it rolled in to the hole. It looked like it would end up a few feet away but it got to the hole and made eagle. I wasn’t expecting it, but I’ll take it.”

Kim said after his round that it been an improvement over his previous performance in the event. “I played here last year, I liked the course and made the cut but finished almost last. Today I’m playing better than before, my irons, all shots are better than last year.”

A birdie finish on his last hole saw Australia’s Scott Hend (65) edge into a share of second place with Kim and the Australian was bullish on his prospects for the week.

“Yeah, it’s alright. I mean we had lift, clean and place out there so it’s playing a bit easier obviously. Scoring is going to be quite low this week because the greens are all right and they are quite receptive so I’ve just got to keep plugging along. It’s nice to get a good first round instead of trying to chase all the time and let’s see if we can have another low one tomorrow.”

Scott Hend. Asian Tour

Despite being an Asian Tour veteran who is turning 50 in 12 days’ time, Hend feels he is still able to compete with the younger guys on tour.

“It’s really no difference, is it? I’m still fit, I think I’m fitter than a lot of the young guys out here. I intend to play golf for a long time and hopefully they keep seeing me in the rear view mirror catching them,” he aid after his round.

Korea’s Doyeob Mun (65) joined the group in second with eight birdies and a dropped shot on the ninth hole.

Ryo Hisatsune (66) shares fifth place on six-under-par with Richard T Lee of Canada, Thailand’s Nitithorn Thippong and Chang Wei-lun of Chinese Taipei.

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