Hong Kong, 22 October 2026: India’s Anirban Lahiri carded an eight-under-par 62 on Thursday to share the first-round lead at the Link Hong Kong Open with Australia’s Kevin Yuan.
Both players made nine birdies and one bogey on the Composite Course at the Hong Kong Golf Club, despite starting on different nines. The tournament is the penultimate event of the Asian Tour season.
Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond and Poosit Supupramai are tied third on 63. Hong Kong’s Isaac Lam and Matthew Cheung, Korea’s Minkyu Kim and Japan’s Yosuke Asaji are a further shot back on 64.
Lahiri carries form from home
Lahiri, 39, won the Asian Tour Order of Merit in 2015 and has seven Asian Tour titles. His last win on the Tour came at the 2015 Indian Open, a week after he won the Malaysian Open.
He tied for 23rd at last week’s DP World India Championship and said the weekend there helped him find his rhythm after a long break following his last LIV event.
“Playing last week at home, I had a good weekend where I started getting into a decent rhythm,” Lahiri said. “I had some time to kind of take a break. Started working back on my game a few weeks ago. I’m happy to bring that same momentum and rhythm into this week.”
Starting on the first hole, he went out in two under, with his only bogey coming on the fifth. He then birdied 10, 11, 13, 14, 17 and 18 on the way home.
“I did a good job of keeping it in play. The golf course is quite firm, it’s probably going to get firmer through the week. So, if you can keep finding the short grass, you’ll give yourself a lot of looks,” he said. “I know I made nine birdies, but there were at least another five or six inside 15 feet that didn’t go in.”
Yuan and Jazz in the hunt
Yuan, who has made the cut in his last five events and sits 33rd on the Order of Merit, is still looking for his first Asian Tour win. He picked out a birdie on the difficult par-four ninth, where a four-iron from 204 yards left him a six-footer.
Jazz made back-to-back eagles on the 13th and 14th while playing alongside Lee Westwood and Kevin Na. The 2019 Order of Merit winner is ninth in this year’s standings, 632.9 points behind leader Pavit Tangkamolprasert, with 787.5 points on offer to this week’s winner.
Pavit shot 69 despite being struck on the leg by a tee shot from Australia’s Harrison Crowe on the third hole. He was not seriously hurt.
The season ends with the Philippine Open in two weeks.
