He fired six birdies and one bogey in wintery conditions on the Colt Course, to finish the day in front of American Jason Kokrak and Jaewoong Eom from Korea who carded 67s.

Germany’s Dominic Foos and Suradit Yongcharoenchai of Thailand returned 68s, while Ian Poulter was in group of 10 players carding 69, including Aussies Matt Jones and Zach Murray.

The next best of the Australian contingent is Wade Ormsby at one-under and Travis Smyth is a shot further adrift in a tie for 40th.

Sarit played a practice round here with countryman Pavit Tangkamolprasert before last year’s International Series England, which was played at a different venue, and said: “Maybe that helped a little bit today, there was more rain that time.”

He started his day on the back nine and birdied 10, and 14 before a brilliant two on the 18th – a difficult 185-yard par-3 – which could cause some drama come Sunday. He dropped a shot on the 2nd, but recovered with gains on 3, 6 and 8.

“I have been hitting it really well,” he said.

“Today was just about the putting, it is all about the putting. Still need to fix my long putting, I might practice that.”

Sarit triumphed for the first time on the Asian Tour last year, at the season-ending Indonesian Masters, but has struggled this year, until a top-10 finish in the Mandiri Indonesia Open two-weeks-ago.

“I had an injury at the beginning of the year, at first it was a back injury, then I got sick, I got COVID, I also had neck and wrist problems,” said the 25-year-old, who was also laid low by COVID last year.

“I took a lot of time off to repair my body, to not get into trouble with injury again, I think that’s worked.”

Kokrak – a three-time winner on the PGA Tour including two in 2021 – finished strong with birdies on 16 and 17.

“Very happy with that,” said the 38-year-old.

“I thought I was going along well but not really making any putts. I was hitting it well but thought I should be more under par. Made a couple there at the end, happy with it.

“The course is wet and super long. I would love to see this place really bouncy.” 

Ian Poulter made a solid start at Close House; his son, Luke is also in the field this week. PHOTO: Asian Tour.

Englishman Poulter, who has won twice before on the Asian Tour, was happy to get in the clubhouse among the leaders after a rough second half.

“Damage limitation!” said Poulter.

“Obviously, three-under-par through nine and cruising but bogeyed the 1st hole which is my 10th, a par-5, which is suicide, frustrating to do that. I shanked it down 4 which is not ideal, nearly made par, and had another bogey on the par-3 with a pulled 8 iron, I was in the middle of the fairway there. Dropping three shots on that nine was poor.”

His son, Luke – an amateur – started well with a 72 although made costly mistakes with the short stick.

“He's one over, he had four three putts! He will probably slap himself around the head, so he has obviously played good golf, and he has not done his job on the putting green. He is a good golfer, and great he is in the field this week,” Poulter said following his sons opening round.

His compatriot and playing partner Lee Westwood, who is the Touring Professional for Close House, also looked set to be among the front runners but made a double on his 16th hole and came in with a 70.

American Andy Ogletree, who currently leads the Asian Tour and International Series Order of Merits, signed for a 72, while Thailand’s Nitithorn Thippong, who claimed the Mandiri Indonesia Open two weeks ago, shot 73.