Tri-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, Japan Golf Tour and Korean Tour, Spain’s David Puig leads the tournament by one after his own bogey-free eight-under 64. It was a score that Quayle very nearly matched, while Thailand’s Phachara Khongwatmai shares second with the Queenslander.

Out in the second group of the day from the first tee, Quayle set a hot pace early following an opening birdie after dropping a 50-foot putt, adding three more in a row from the third hole and another at the ninth to turn in 5-under 31.

More birdies followed at the 11th, 12th and 17th before the world No.338 made a rare bogey at the par-5 18th that saw him end the day in second rather than a share of the lead.

Going long of the final green with his third shot, Quayle came up short with his chip from the back, however, he was simply happy to be somewhat pain free after receiving treatment earlier in the week.

“It was nice. I didn’t have the best prep coming into the week. I hurt my back last week, so I tried to be a little bit more low-key in my preparation and be a little bit more cautionary,” Quayle said.

“Not sure what the back issue is. I saw the physio yesterday, my self-diagnosis was wrong – which is probably not uncommon for a professional golfer.”

An issue potentially caused by an extended period of overloading the back of the pelvis, Quayle will no doubt be cautious with his back for the remainder of his week.

However, his first round performance suggests the old adage to beware the injured golfer could prove true around Sky 72’s Ocean Course.

“Came out today, back felt great, everything felt pretty good. I probably had low expectations, so was able to play freely and roll a few in,” said Quayle, who is chasing his third pro win after the 2020 Queensland Open and 2021 Queensland PGA.

Quayle was joined in the top-10 by compatriots Won Joon Lee and Junseok Lee after the pair signed for opening rounds of 5-under 67 to sit in a share of eighth in Incheon.

Meanwhile, Minjee Lee made a good start to her Kroger Queen City Championship campaign in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Starting the day with a hat-trick of birdies from the first hole, the two-time major champion added another at the par-3 eighth to create an ominous presence on the LPGA Tour leaderboard.

The West Australian could only manage one more birdie on the back nine though among eight pars to record a bogey-free round of 5-under 67 and share of sixth, two shots back of solo leader, China’s Ruixin Lin.

“I’m just really enjoy playing the courses (in Ohio),” Lee, who missed the cut here last year, said.

“I think it really suits my eye. I’ve played well at Dana (Open), and hopefully I can finish well here.

“I started really well. I had three birdies off the bat… so it was really nice to have a fast start.

“Made one more on the front and then one more on the back, so it was pretty steady, pretty solid all day.”

Gabi Ruffels continues to impress as she broadens her LPGA experience, the 23-year-old 3-under and four strokes off the lead.

Photo: Courtesy JGTO Images