Staff WriterThailand’s Suteepat Prateeptienchai fired the opening salvo at the Jakarta International Championship, posting a flawless seven-under-par 63 to grab the first-round clubhouse lead and put the rest of the field on notice.
The 32-year-old Thai has already shown he enjoys Indonesian turf—back in August, he sealed the Mandiri Indonesia Open with a final-round 64. Fast forward a few weeks and he’s back on home-from-home soil, casually reeling off eight birdies and a single bogey at Damai Indah Golf’s PIK Course, as if birdies were buy-one-get-one-free.
“Played really well today. Everything is perfect,” said Suteepat, with all the calm of a man discussing his morning coffee. “I made a lot of putts. Not too long, longest was about seven yards.”
Confidence Sky High
The run of form is no accident. Coming off a joint seventh at the Yeangder TPC and a share of fourth at the Mercuries Taiwan Masters, the Thai arrives in Jakarta brimming with belief.
“After my win in August, I am much more confident. It was a big win for me, I feel more relaxed. I am just sticking to my plan. There’s no tiredness,” he added.
His caddie is clearly buying into the plan too: “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.”
With four Asian Tour wins to his name—three of them in Chinese-Taipei—Jakarta could well serve as the stage for his second triumph on foreign soil.
The Chasing Pack
Breathing down his neck are Australia’s Wade Ormsby, Chinese-Taipei’s Chang Wei-lun, and Mexico’s Roberto Lebrija, all carding 64s to sit one shot back.
Ormsby looked poised to match Suteepat until disaster struck at the ninth—his finishing hole after starting on the back nine—where a visit to the lake cost him a share of the lead.
“It’s nice to be playing somewhat decent and to get off to a strong start today. 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 than they were looking,” Ormsby admitted, sounding relieved.
Seven birdies and a lone bogey left him satisfied: “It was nice to put a good score together again… I managed to hole some putts, which makes the scorecard look a lot better.”
Lebrija, meanwhile, may be the surprise of the week. A graduate from the 2025 Qualifying School with the 12th card, the Mexican has endured a stuttering season. But a string of decent finishes in Indonesia seems to have unlocked something.
His candid take on this morning’s weather suspension was pure gold: “Yeah, actually kind of good luck. I had to go to the bathroom, and right when they stopped, I was able to go. So that kind of helped.
And then I was able to actually hit some shots to warm up right before going back. And just kept doing my thing. Fortunately, made a couple putts.”
Weather Delay
A one-hour-and-twenty-minute weather stoppage slowed the morning field, leaving 45 players needing to complete their opening round on Friday. Thailand’s Pavit Tangkamolprasert was among them, cruising at six-under through 16 holes before darkness fell.
What’s Next
Filipino Miguel Tabuena lurks just two back after a 65, and with plenty of firepower stacked up behind Suteepat, the Jakarta International Championship looks set for a stormy weekend—on the course, if not in the skies.
For now, though, it’s advantage Prateeptienchai, who seems to have discovered that Indonesian fairways are his own personal Shangri-La.
