England’s Joshua Grenville-Wood set a blistering pace on the first day of the PIF Saudi Open, with 12 birdies and only two dropped shots propelling him to a 10-under-par round of 62 and a three shot lead over the field.

His endeavors, which set a new course record, eclipsed an otherwise impressive start by Saudi amateur Saud Abdullah Al Sharif, the early clubhouse leader at the Riyadh Golf Club after a bogey free 65, who shares second place with Morocco’s Ahmed Marjan and Indonesia’s Naraajie E. Ramadhanputra.

It is Grenville-Wood’s second visit to Saudi Arabia, but his first playing golf. “It’s great fun out here. I love being out here in the Middle East playing golf,” he said after his round.

“I’m very pleased with my round today. Solid, stress-free golf. Hit the ball really good and just happened to make a couple of nice putts.

“I love the course,” he added. “The fairways are in really good condition, just like carpet. You can clip it off the fairways and the greens are rolling at a really nice speed. I’m really enjoying it out there.”

Ahmad Baig of Pakistan leads a group on six under at the US$200,000 Asian Development Tour event, the first tournament of its kind to be staged by the ADT in Saudi Arabia. Baig shares fifth place with amateur Issa Abouelela of Egypt and Malaysia’s Galven Green

Thailand’s Chanat Sakulpolphaisan and Benjamin Follett-Smith of Zimbabwe matched each other with scores of 67, both reaching five under with three birdies, an eagle and no dropped shots, albeit on completely different holes.

The duo share eighth place after the first round with England’s William Harold, Lloyd Jefferson Go of the Philippines and the Thai pair of Puwit Anupansuebsai and Pisitchai Thippong.

Singapore’s Koh Deng Shan leads a group in 14th on four under par, with a single bogey offsetting a clutch of five birdies. Dodge Kemmer of the USA is also on 68 after a flawless round with four birdies on no dropped shots.

They head a truly international group which includes Harrison Gilbert of Australia, Kevin Esteve of Andorra, Sweden’s Erik Jonasson, Ahmed Reda Rhazali of Morocco, Norway’s Jarand Ekeland Arnoy, Malaysia’s Shahriffuddin Ariffin and Tunisian amateur Elyes Barhoumi.

A total of 121 golfers started the event which will be played over 54 holes. The winner of the tournament, which is organised by Golf Saudi, will qualify for the 2023 edition of the PIF Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers.

The ADT season is drawing to a close, with just two more tournaments to play before the end of the year, and the Order Of Merit is still very much open. Malaysia’s Shahriffuddin Ariffin, who won the Selangor Masters at the end of last month, is the best placed contender after Round One.

Thailand’s Suteepat Prateeptienchai, who has three wins already this season, was only able to post a one under 71 for his opening round, which leaves him two shots adrift of compatriot Chonlatit Chuenboonngam. China’s Chen Guxin, in fourth place in the OOM, is not teeing it up this week.