Jakarta, December 13: American John Catlin emerged tops in his marquee pairing by opening with a six-under-par 66 to share the first round clubhouse lead with Qualifying school graduate Sungho Lee of Korea at the BNI Indonesian Masters presented by Bank Tabungan Negara (BTN), PT.Lautan Luas.Tbk and Bank Mandiri on Thursday.

Lightning activities around the Royale Jakarta Golf Club led to the suspension of play at close to 4pm (local time) before officials decided to call off play for round one about an hour later.

62 players including defending champion Justin Rose of England will resume their first round at 6.20am (local time) on Friday morning. Rose is at five-under through 14 holes.

Playing alongside Sweden’s Henrik Stenson and India’s Anirban Lahiri, Catlin showed the form that led him to three Asian Tour wins this season when he marked his card with seven birdies and one bogey to set the early pace at the Asian Tour’s season-ending event.

With only his tied-14th finish in Chinese Taipei as his best result on the Asian Tour this year, Lee is determined to put up a strong showing to end his year on a high at the US$750,000 event.

The 31-year-old Korean is currently in 95th place on the Habitat for Humanity standings and will need a huge lift to finish inside the top-62 and save his Tour card for the 2019 season.

Philippines’ Angelo Que meanwhile returned to familiar surroundings in the best of form after playing in Japan for a large part of this year.

Apart from a bogey-five on 16, the three-time Asian Tour winner showed his commanding form by signing for a 67 to stay one shot back of Catlin and Lee.

Like Que, tournament drawcard Stenson also posted a 67 to put himself in contention in his tournament debut.

Did you know?

• John Catlin is the first player to have won three times on the Asian Tour in 2018. His three victories came at the Asia-Pacific Classic in China, Sarawak Championship in Malaysia and the Yeangder TPC in Chinese Taipei.
• After winning twice on the Asian Development Tour (ADT), Catlin finished in third place on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) Order of Merit in 2017 to earn his Tour card for the 2018 season.
• Catlin found 14 fairways and missed only three greens in his solid round of 66.
• Henrik Stenson is the first Swede to win the 2016 Open Championship. He is ranked 27th in the world this week but reached a career high of second place on the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) in 2014.
• Stenson won the silver medal, finishing two shots behind gold medalist Justin Rose at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
• He is playing in Indonesia for the first time in his career.
• Sungho Lee earned his Asian Tour card from Qualifying School this year. He has made eight starts including this week’s BNI Indonesian Masters and his best result came at the Yeangder TPC in Chinese Taipei in October where he finished tied for 14th.
• Lee needed only 24 putts around the greens today and is playing at the BNI Indonesian Masters for the first time.
• Angelo Que won for the first time in Japan when he lifted the Top Cup Tokai Classic in September.
• Que’s last victory on the Asian Tour came in 2010 at the Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters in Malaysia.

Players’ Quotes:

John Catlin (Usa) First round 66 (-6)

I’m definitely pleased with my opening round. The only bogey I made was on the fourth hole where the putt lipped out from about three feet. So it was definitely a very good round. I hit a lot of good shots, it was really close on a few shots and it could have been even lower. But I’m obviously happy with a 66 on a difficult golf course. Playing with the likes of Ernie Els, Keegan Bradley, Stewart Cink gave me a lot of confidence playing with illustrious company today. Henrik’s a really nice guy and I’ve known Anirban for about four years. It was nice to play with them and see to see good shots. That definitely helped when you’re going out there and trying to make birdies. When you see other guys making birdies, that kind of pushes you. So that was more of how I was doing it today. Everyone’s was texting me and saying ‘Oh you’re playing with Henrik’. But for me, I was just more excited to watch good golf. It’ll be a huge to add a fourth win at the season-ender and it’ll be the biggest win of my career. And that’s why you tee up. Every time you’re out here, you are trying to win. That’s why you spend all those hours spent practicing to put you in this kind of position.

Sungho Lee (Kor)  First round 66 (-6)

I putted well and hit all my tee shots very well. It was very hot and I’m going to take it step- by –step as the round progresses. The key is keep myself hydrated too and stay under the shade whenever I got the chance. Course management is very important too. I got my card from Qualifying school in January and it would mean a lot to me if I can continue to keep it with a solid performance this week.

Angelo Que (Phi) First round 67 (-5)

It has been a great year for me. I had a win in Japan and everything’s good. I’ve been playing pretty solid after that win. Unfortunately, I haven’t been playing enough out here on the Asian Tour and that’s why it’s good to be back. It’s very satisfying to see yourself up there on the leaderboard, especially in the heat. You got to play well and that’s really hard to do under this kind of weather. I started pretty slow but began to hit the ball so much better and made more putts in the back-nine. The experience that I got from playing on the Asian Tour helped me to get used to the conditions in Japan which are tougher. The pin positions and tighter fairways are always challenging over there and I’m glad I can draw on my playing experience here to do well.

Henrik Stenson (Swe) First round 67 (-5)

It is my first time in Indonesia but not my first time in Asia, obviously I have played a lot of golf here. Believe it or not 17 or 18 years on the European Tour and this is my first time in Indonesia. Happy to be here and I have had a great reception. We are being looked after like royalty. I am enjoying it and the golf was pretty good today.  I hit some good shots, particularly coming in. I played better on my back nine than I did my front nine. All in all I kept it fairly tidy and did not make too many mistakes. I certainly did not play my best but I avoided making bogeys, just made one. It is a good start. Here you have to make a lot of birdies. Of course avoiding bogeys is important but looking at what Justin (Rose) did last year and seeing this course you have to keep your foot on the accelerator and make birdies. If you can make six or seven birdies a day then you will have a chance.

Leading scores after round 1 of the BNI Indonesian Masters being played at the par 72, 7361 Yards Royale Jakarta GC course (am – denotes amateur):

66 – John Catlin (USA), Sungho Lee (KOR).

67 – Angelo Que (PHI), Henrik Stenson (SWE), Thitiphun Chuayprakong (THA), Jarryd Felton (AUS), Maverick Antcliff (AUS).

68 – Rinaldi Adiyandono (INA), Pavit Tangkamolprasert (THA), Khalin Joshi (IND), Danny Chia (MAS), Anirban Lahiri (IND), Scott Hend (AUS), Berry Henson (USA), Natipong Srithong (THA).

69 – John Michael O’Toole (USA), Lin Wen-tang (TPE), M Dharma (IND), Settee Prakongvech (THA), Pannakorn Uthaipas (THA), Nicholas Fung (MAS).

70 – Xiao Bowen (CHN), Casey O’Toole (USA), Mitchell Slorach (SIN), Rory Hie (INA), Siddikur Rahman (BAN), Thammanoon Sriroj (THA), Shinichi Mizuno (JPN), Lu Wei-chih (TPE).