Marden takews the opening round

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Singapore veteran Mardan Mamat rolled back the years to fire a bogey-free six-under-par 66 to seize the opening round lead by one shot at the US$110,000 Ciputra Golfpreneur Tournament presented by Panasonic on Wednesday.

The 51-year-old, a five-time Asian Tour winner, highlighted his flawless card with four birdies and an eagle to sit atop at the event, which is celebrating its sixth consecutive edition as one of the richest tournaments on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) this week.

American Tarik Can and Daniel Fox of Australia trail a shot behind in second spot following matching 67s at the Jack Nicklaus Signature Course – BSD Course by Damai Indah Golf in Tangerang, Greater Jakarta.

Japan's Naoki Sekito kicked off his bid for a third ADT title with a solid 68 to be tied for fourth with compatriot Ryuichi Oiwa, Sean Kelly and Brett Munson of the United States, India's Arjun Prasad and Singapore's Mitchell Slorach.

Defending champion and reigning Order of Merit champion Miguel Carballo of Argentina posted a 70 to lurk four shots off the pace in tied-13th.

Mardan, who finished a creditable tied-16th at the Sarawak Championship last week, was pleased to carry his fine momentum into this week's event.

"It was a good round, I hit the ball good. Didn't make any bogeys. I managed to hole a lot of putts too. Last week's results certainly gave me a lot of confidence.

“The putter has been working well for me these two weeks. Hopefully it stays hot.

“I've changed my mindset a little as well. I told myself not to have high expectations. I guess that helps, ” said Mardan.

Starting off from the 10th tee, Mardan enjoyed a decent start with two birdies in his opening five holes to make the turn at 34 before gaining four more shots on is way home courtesy of an eagle on the par-five 4th and a pair of birdies on 1st and 8th.

Mardan said he took advantage of the familiarity with the course he had fond memories with.

“Coming back here to the course that I have played since my amateur days and one that I am very familiar with, I felt good. The course is in great conditions too.

“I had about 210 yards to the pin on the par-five 4th hole and hit it to about eight-feet and made that putt for eagle."

Elki Kow impressed for the local contingent by carding a 69 for a share of 10th place with former Asian Tour winner Steve Lewton of England and Joohyung Kim of Korea, the PGM ADT Tiara Melaka Championship winner last month and currently sits in third place on the ADT Order of Merit.

The leading seven players on the ADT Order of Merit at the end of the season will earn playing rights on the premier Asian Tour for the 2019 season.

Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points are offered for all ADT events. The winner will earn a total of six OWGR points while the top-six players and ties earn points on a sliding scale.

Leading first round scores
66: Mardan Mamat (SGP)
67: Tarik Can (USA), Daniel Fox (AUS)
68: Mitchell Slorach (SGP), Naoki Sekito Ryuichi Oiwa (JPN), Arjun Prasad (IND), Sean Kelly ;(USA), Brett Munson (USA)
69: Steve Lewton (ENG), Joohyung Kim (KOR), Elki Kow (INA)
70: Sam Gilis (USA), Josh Salah (USA), Miguel Carballo (ARG), Genki Okata (JPN), Fadhli Rahman Soetarso (INA) (A), Mathiam Keyser (RSA), Hayato Yoshida (JPN).