Gaganjeet Bhullar's British Open experience stood him in good stead and his strong opening round of three-nuder 69 had the Kapurthala pro at tied 15th in the Indonesia President Invitational golf tournament in Jakarta on Thursday.
Seasoned campaigner Gaurav Ghei (74), however, was among the two Indians -- C Muniyappa (79) being the other -- to return an over-par card to lie tied 98th and risk missing the cut.
Among others, Rahil Gangjee, Manav Jaini and Amandeep Johl returned identical two-under 70 to share the 30th spot, one shot ahead of Anirban Lahiri who was lying 47th.
Digvijay Singh and Himmat Rai share the 64th place after carding 72s.
Thai star Thaworn Wiratchant, Finland's Pasi Purhonen and Australian duo of Marcus Both and Darren Beck fired identical six-under 66s to share the first round lead.
The third edition of the USD 400,000 Asian Tour event was a thriller with Korea's Lee Sung, Thammanoon Srirot of Thailand and Australia's Adam Blyth lying a further stroke behind on 67s at the Damai Indah Golf - Bumi Serpong Damai (BSD) course.
Enriched by his British Open experience, Bhullar played steady, flawless golf till his final hole, the lone blot in his otherwise impeccable card, where he dropped a bogey.
Playing his back nine first, Bhullar birdied the 15th to take the turn at one-under. The lanky Indian looked completely in control of the proceedings as he birdied the fourth, sixth and eighth holes to go four-under before dropping a stroke on the par-four ninth.
In contrast, Ghei's round was a bumpy affair where four bogeys cancelled out a birdie quartet and the 12th hole double bogey proved costly in the end.
