Thailand’s Suteepat Prateeptienchai surged into the clubhouse lead at the Jakarta International Championship with a seven-under-par 63 on Thursday, one shot clear of the field.

The 32-year-old, who won the Mandiri Indonesia Open in August, made eight birdies against a lone bogey at Damai Indah Golf – PIK Course. The strong start continued his run of form after back-to-back top-10 finishes in Chinese-Taipei last month.

Australia’s Wade Ormsby, Chinese-Taipei’s Chang Wei-lun and Mexico’s Roberto Lebrija carded 64s to share second place. Thailand’s Pavit Tangkamolprasert was six under through 16 holes when play was halted, with 117 players set to complete their rounds Friday morning following a weather delay of more than an hour.

Confidence growing for Thailand’s early leader

Suteepat said everything clicked during his round. “Played really well today. Everything is perfect. I made a lot of putts. Not too long, longest was about seven yards,” he said.

He credited his growing confidence since his win in August and noted his caddie’s belief in his chances this week. “My caddie says I can lead here as the course suits me. The fairways are not too tight, but the greens are quite firm and if your ball is not in the fairway you cannot control the spin.”

Ormsby and Lebrija stay close in chase

Ormsby had been bogey-free until his final hole, where he found the lake with his second shot and dropped a stroke to finish on 64. “It’s nice to be playing somewhat decent and to get off to a strong start,” he said. “I had a little blemish at the end, but I managed to get up and down from about 45 yards, which made things feel a lot better.”

Lebrija, a Qualifying School graduate, produced one of the surprise scores of the day. The Mexican has struggled this season but has shown signs of improvement in Indonesia. He said today’s suspension break even worked in his favor, allowing him to reset before pushing on to tie for second.

Filipino Miguel Tabuena was among a group of players who opened with 65.