Malaysia’s Ervin Chang set a blistering pace on the first day of the OB Golf Invitational presented by Jababeka on Tuesday, posting a flawless round of 62 with eight birdies to lead by two shots going into round two.

He holds the advantage over Suteepat Prateeptienchai of Thailand, who posted six birdies for a bogey free round of 64

Thailand’s Chonlatit Chuenboonngam, winner at the Gunung Geulis Golf Invitational in August, also scored well, with just a single bogey on his card for a 65 on the par 70 Jababeka Golf & Country Club course. He leads a strong group on five-under including Chen Guxin of China, Australia’s Kade McBride and the Thai duo of Suteepat Prateeptienchai and Varanyu Rattanaphiboonkij, all of whom posted bogey-free scores.

Chonlatit Chuenboonngam of Thailand. Picture by Yulius Martinus / OBGolf

Chen, who has already won twice this season, heads the ADT Order of Merit, with a slim lead over Chuenboonngam, with Thailand’s Chanat Sakulpolphaisan and Prateeptienchai in close pursuit.

Chang, who has been focusing on controlling his game during the first two rounds, showed he is making progress with a run of three birdies in his first four holes in the US$70,000 Asian Development Tour event.

“It’s taken me a couple of tournaments to get into the groove and learn how to deal with the pressure for the first two rounds. But the last few tournaments, I wasn’t having a perfect start but was always around even par, or one under, which showed a bit of an improvement.

“Today I was feeling really comfortable with the way I was swinging and how the course was set up for me. I was able to recover from a couple of mistakes and was really happy with my performance.”

“I just kept trying to keep the ball in play on the fairway and give myself birdie chances. Ended up shooting eight birdies and zero bogeys which is always a good sign on the golf course,” said Chang.

Nirun Sae-Ueng of Thailand. Picture by Yulius Martinus / OBGolf

Chuenboonngam was also pleased with his performance, particularly after a disappointing practice round on Monday.

“I didn’t expect to make five under after my practice round, which wasn’t particularly good,” he said after turning in his card. “My game was good today, tee shots and irons were good, plenty of chances to make birdie.”

“The course is good, with big fairways and greens. There’s a few tough holes, the long par four and the long par three, but its just two or three holes and you can use driver on most holes because it’s easy to keep it in the fairways.”

“My key tomorrow is to keep within my game, shot to shot, and without thinking about things too much.”

Benita Kasiadi of Indonesia. Picture by Yulius Martinus / OBGolf

A group of three players lie one shot further back on 66 with a share of seventh place, led by Thailand’s Nirun Sae-Ueng, Oscar Zetterwall of Sweden and Australia’s Jack Murdoch.

In tenth place, the English pair of Matt Killen and Joshua Grenville-Wood are joined by the leading Indonesian scorer Benita Kasiadi, and the Thai quartet of Denwit Boriboonsub, Piya Sawangarunporn, Pisitchai Thippong and Sarun Sirithon. America’s Jeremy Wendelken completes the group on 67 with three birdies, the seventh bogey-free round of the day.