Kenneth De Silva signed in a sizzling six-under-par 66 at Glenmarie Golf and Country Club to take the first-round lead at the Corolla Cross Cup.

Recording seven impressive birdies against one bogey, De Silva was satisfied with how he navigated the greens at the Garden course even when he admitted he had not much preparation approaching this event.

"I putted well out there, and today's round was quite unexpected since I haven't been practicing much," said De Silva whose previous best performance was a runner-up finish at the 2017 PGM Port Dickson Championship.

"My approaches have also been giving me a lot of opportunities and it feels good to be getting back on track, so hopefully I can keep my momentum until the last day," the 34-year-old added.

Trailing behind De Silva by one are young professionals Galven Green and Malcolm Ting who returned with rounds of five-under-par 67.

Green, who continues to ride on the momentum of his most recent win at the season-opening Tun Ahmad Sarji Trophy, started his first nine with three birdies on the 3rd, 4th, and 6th. The highlight of his round came at the 11th, where he eagled the par 5.

"I hit a good drive, good second shot in from around 115 meters and managed to sink that decently long putt which was around 25 feet," explained Green whose only blemish on his scorecard was a bogey on the 13th.

Sabahan duo Ben Leong and Nicholas Fung are one shot adrift in joint fourth. Four other players, namely Daeng Rahman, Paul San, Sukree Othman, and Nor Heikal Hadi are bunched in tied sixth position on three-under-par.

Meanwhile, Ainil Johani Bakar mixed three birdies against four bogeys to lead the Ladies Championship. Her score of one-over 73 gave her a one-stroke advantage over amateur Tan Ying Ying. Lying in joint third were Amalia Shahzan and Audrey Tan a further stroke behind while Qistina Balqis and Dianne Luke finished at five-over.

Leading Round One Scores (Men's)
66 (-6) Kenneth De Silva
67 (-5) Galven Green, Malcolm Ting
68 (-4) Ben Leong, Nicholas Fung
69 (-3) Daeng Rahman, Paul San, Sukree Othman, Nor Heikal Hadi
70 (-2) U-Minn Woon, R. Nachimuthu

Leading Round One Scores (Ladies)
73 (+1) Ainil Johani Bakar
74 (+2) Tan Ying Ying (a)
75 (+3) Amalia Shahzan, Audrey Tan
77 (+5) Qistina Balqis, Dianne Luke