Yonggu Shin (Canada) took advantage of benign early morning conditions to shoot a six-under-par 66 to take the lead in the first round of the inaugural International Series - Oman at Al Mouj Golf, Muscat today (Thursday).

Shin went bogey free and carded six birdies – in the second event of the season on the Asian Tour, and the first International Series tournament that boasts a prizefund of $2 million.

Shin, whose family emigrated to Canada when he was three years old, also won on the Korean PGA Tour last year at The 4th Woosung Construction Open.

Spanish star Sergio Garcia looked set to join him in first place but made bogey on his last hole, missing the shortest putt of the day. Garcia began his round on the 10th and was mid-leaderboard before a stunning run of five birdies in six holes starting on the second.

The 43 year-old, who recently returned to playing following a three-month break because of a torn meniscus, is attempting to win for the seventh time on the Asian Tour.

Tied second alongside Garcia is Sadom Kaewkanjana (Thai) also with a 67. Sadom is a player in form at present and earned his biggest career cheque last week in Saudi when he finished solo fourth to win $235,000 and is currently second place in the 2023 Asian Tour’s Order of Merit.

Dubai based Shiv Kapur (Ind) returned a level par 72, with four birdies and four bogeys with two balanced nines of 36 to lie in tied 29th place.

Shiv said after his round, ‘This is my first time playing at Al Mouj here in Oman. The early tee time gave our group the best weather of the day, but as the wind increased and the greens firmed up, it made for a stiff test and it is a proper championship golf course. Even the downwind holes were tough, it was hard to get the ball close with the wedges, and I was sloppy on two of the par fives, making sixes on both, where I lost some ground, perhaps upto three shots, to the whole field. I probably played better than I scored. Tomorrow (Friday), I have a 12.40 pm tee time and hope I can keep up my strong play and learn more about the golf course. It is one of those golf courses that can play differently every day.’

Fellow Dubain’s MG Keyser (RSA) shot a level par 72 and Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) returned a six over 78.

28 players broke par in round one.

Round two live golf coverage from the Asian Tour in Oman can be watched tomorrow (Friday) on Dubai Sports Channel: 1.30 pm – 5.30 pm.

First round leaders (Par 72, 7,438 Yards)Y. Shin (Can) 66S. Garcia (Spain) 67S. Kaewkanjana (Thai) 67A. Ogletree (US) 68

Other Notables:L. Oosthuizen (RSA) 71J. Niemann (Chile) 72G. McDowell (NI) 73B. Koepka (US) 74C. Schwartzel (RSA) 75