Dean Burmester bogeyed his first hole on Thursday, and dropped another shot on the 17th, but his five-under-par 67 was good for a share of seventh after the first round of the Asian Tour’s International Series Philippines at Sta Elena Golf Club.

In between those two dropped shots, Burmester made seven birdies and was just three places off the first-round lead which was held by Sarit Suwannarut of Thailand at eight-under-par. He made nine birdies in his round to lead by one from Japan’s Kazuki Higa, with four players on six-under. Burmester shared seventh with six other players, including former world number one and fellow-LIV player Dustin Johnson.

Jaco Ahlers was a shot back on four-under in a share of 14th, while Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel were on one-under-par in a share of 53rd.

Sarit – fourth in SJM Macao Open, tied 11th in the Jakarta International Championship and tied ninth in Mercuries Taiwan Masters in his previous three starts on the Asian Tour – started on the back nine and made four birdies on his way out, and added five more on his back nine.

The International Series Philippines is the sixth leg of the elevated International Series events on the Asian Tour.