Samui (Thailand), Aug 13 - Anirban Lahiri overcame a mid-round blip with a fine finish that included an eagle and a birdie over the last four holes to card an even par 71 in the first round of the Queen's Cup golf on the Asian Tour here Thursday.
Also finishing at 71 at the Santiburi Samui Country Club was young Himmat Rai.
Lahiri and Himmat were tied at 34th, while C. Muniyappa and Rahil Gangjee shot one-over 72 each in tied 49th place. Gaurav Ghei went four-over 75 in tied 83rd place and Amandeep Johl was further down in 76 at 92nd place.
Thailand's Kiradech Aphibarnrat soared on an eagle's wings to tie Korea's Lee Sung for the first round lead. The 20-year-old talent showed he was over last week's disappointment of finishing second in Malaysia by shooting a six-under-par 65.
Lahiri teed off from the tenth and found his birdie on the 12th, but gave that stroke back on the 15th to turn in even par. On the home stretch, which was the front nine of the course, Lahiri, bogeyed the first and double bogeyed the third at which stage he was three-over for the day.