Professionals Ben Leong and Daeng Rahman carded impressive seven-under-par 63s at Kelab Golf Sibu to lead the field at the Toyota Tour's Fortuner Cup.

Trailing behind the joint leaders in solo third position was Edven Ying whose hot birdie, eagle, birdie start helped him to a six-under finish, followed by Shahriffuddin Ariffin in fourth after signing in a solid 65. Rounding up the top five on the leaderboard are Nicholas Fung and Brandon Lai on four-under-par.

Daeng, who has been nursing a wrist injury, credited his day of eight birdies against one bogey to his driver.

“I wasn’t hitting my woods well last week at the Selangor Masters but it worked today," the Johorean shared.

“With this being my first time here, I didn’t know what to expect about the course but after yesterday’s pro-am, I felt that I could shoot a low number here,” he added. “It’s a short course but the greens are tricky. I like the layout.”

Meanwhile, co-leader Leong signed in an equally remarkable scorecard with nine birdies and two bogeys.

Pre-tournament favourite Marcus Lim, who finished third in last week's PKNS Selangor Masters, returned with an up-and-down round of three-under-par 67 to be in joint seventh position.

"I made solid birdies, made some silly mistakes. I should have played smarter. Hopefully, I’ll learn from what I did today and look forward to a better round tomorrow,” said Lim.

Toyota Tour Order of Merit leader Galven Green had a mixed round of three birdies against five bogeys and finished two-over in joint 32nd.

Local hero Lee Kah Tung who was grouped with Green and Lim, said he thoroughly enjoyed the round. “They are a few levels above me but it was a wonderful experience.” He finished at four-over 74 and is three strokes behind leading amateur Benjamin Ethan.

In the Ladies Championship, Geraldine Wong overcame a fall at the 5th tee box to card a one-over 71 to lead amateur Mirabel Ting by one stroke. Michelle Koh was one stroke further adrift on 73.

Leading Round One Men’s Scores
63 (-7) Ben Leong, Daeng Rahman
64 (-6) Edven Ying
65 (-5) Shahriffuddin Ariffin
66 (-4) Nicholas Fung, Brandon Lai
67 (-3) Marcus Lim, Khor Kheng Hwai, Kim Leun Kwang, Hafiy Suhaili
68 (-2) Amir Nazrin, Paul San, Nazri Zain, Ikhmal Basry, Lee Chong Li, Wilson Choo, Fakhrul Akmal

Ladies' Round One Scores
71 (+1) Geraldine Wong
72 (+2) Mirabel Ting
73 (+3) Michelle Koh
74 (+5) Durriyah Damian
81 (+11) Amalia Shahzan