Jordan Smith carded a bogey-free, 8-under 64 featuring an eagle at the par-5 18 to take a share of the lead at the Porsche Singapore Classic.
The Englishman has an impressive recond on the DP World Tour having made 145 of 187 cuts since he joined in 2017 and has won twice.
“Everything’s coming along nicely,” said Smith. “I definitely got a lot of confidence from two weeks ago in South Africa. The game just feels like it is in a good place.
“So I’m really happy with how the game is looking and what sort of shots I’m hitting and holing a few nice putts, that’s always a little bonus.”
Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat made a single bogey at the par-5 3rd hole and Malaysia’s Gavin Green eagled the 3rd but bogeyed the par-4 5th for a share of the lead alongside Smith.
“It’s a very good start,” said Aphibarnrat. “Ball-striking was great the whole day, putting was light work, made an easy mistake and bogeyed a par five hole on the third.
“There was a nice bounce back after, I picked up another three birdies in the last four holes which is a great finish.”
Aphibarnrat and Smith have both already won on the DP World Tour but Green, although he has won nine times as a professional, has yet to do so on this tour.
“We played well, we didn’t do anything crazy,” said Green. “Nothing special – we just kept hitting fairways, kept hitting greens and made some putts.”
France’s Ugo Coussaud made four consecutive birdies from the first hole but bogeyed the par-4 5th and double bogeyed the par-4 9th to finish in second place at 7-under.
England’s Richard Mansell and Scotland’s Grant Forrest are tied in fifth place at 6-under alongside Italy’s Andrea Pavan and Germany’s Freddy Schott.
