Jbe’ Kruger carded a four-under-par 66 on Thursday in the opening round of the Asian Tour’s International Series Macau presented by Wynn at Macau Golf and Country Club.

Kruger started his round with a dropped shot on the first hole, but he made four birdies on the remainder of the front nine and two in the final two holes. With one more dropped shot, on the 10^th, Kruger was in a share of 16^th at the end of the first 18 holes.

China’s Haotong Li held the lead with his seven-under-par 63 giving him a one-stroke edge over Mito Pereira of Chile, Pat Perez of the United States and Japan’s Yuta Sugiura. They led from 12 players in a share of fifth place on five-under, including LIV Golf players Patrick Reed of the United States, Spain’s David Puig and Carlos Ortiz of Mexico.

Kruger shared 16^th with, amongst others, countryman Jaco Ahlers, who had an eagle on the 18^th after starting his first round on the 10^th. He also made three birdies and a bogey on his way to his four-under-par total.

Fellow-South Africans Neil Schietekat and Ian Snyman each had one-under-par 69 to open up in a share of 75th, and Justin Harding, on his way back into tournament play, battled to a three-over 73.