Luiten takes the lead in Jakarta

Darren Clarke and Paul McGinley both made a steady start to the Indonesian Open as rising Netherlands star Joost Luiten topped the leaderboard midway through the opening round.

Close friends Clarke and McGinley both returned to Cengkareng Golf Club’s clubhouse with a two-under-par 68 – but are four shots behind Luiten, whose impressive six under 64 gives him a one-shot lead over the chasing pack.

The 22-year-old Dutchman, who started his round on the 10th, carded four birdies against two bogeys on the back nine but enjoyed a faultless run coming home while adding four birdies.

“I felt really good today,” said Luiten. “If I have a good chance I go for it and that is the way I play. I want to win tournaments and you have to go after the pins. That is what I did today and it paid off.”

One shot behind and tied for second are Prayad Marksaeng, Jeev Milkha Singh, Liang Wen-chong and David Brandson, who is in a promising position to surpass Luiten with the Australian five-under with three holes still to play.

Clarke, who is making his debut in the tournament, endured a frustrating round in which although he only dropped only one shot, on the par-four 11th, he carded just three birdies and will be hoping for an improvement in the second round.

McGinley, meanwhile, made a slow start, birdying the 11th before bogeying the par-three 12th.

He then dropped another shot on the fourth before finishing his round strongly with three successive birdies from the sixth.

“I didn’t play very well,” said the 41-year-old Dubliner. “I’m relatively pleased with 68 but I need to play better.”