Lee Westwood said two months ago that not caring made him a “dangerous golfer”.

Victorian Marcus Fraser appears to have adopted a similar mindset having surprised even himself at last week’s Maybank Championship in Malaysia.

Fraser is one of nine Australians teeing it up at the Hero Indian Open at DLF Golf and Country Club this week, playing on an invitation after finishing tied for 48th in Malaysia last week.

The 40-year-old shot to the top of the leaderboard after the opening round at Saujana Golf and Country Club with a 7-under 65 and hinted that, like Westwood, adopting a more carefree mindset could be key to unlocking more strong performances in the future.

“I’m definitely a part-time golfer these days,” Fraser explained.

“It’s nice to go out on the golf course and it doesn’t mean as much as it used to.

“I think when you’ve got that mind-set it probably helps.

“I was more surprised than anyone going out there and shooting 7-under.

“I’ve been playing well having a hit at home but I haven’t played a whole lot of competitive golf.

“It was nice to go out and play well in a great tournament.”

Third in his first start at the Indian Open in 2015, Fraser was tied for 60th where he was 13-over for the weekend in extremely difficult scoring conditions, 18 rounds of 80 or more recorded over the final two rounds at the Gary Player-designed layout.

Wade Ormsby was one of only 19 players to better par in the final round 12 months ago to finish tied for 25th, the fourth consecutive year he had qualified for the weekend at DLF Golf and Country Club.

Riding high after his win at the Maybank Championship last week and up 119 spots to be ranked No.134 in the world, Queensland’s Scott Hend has made the cut just once in four previous starts at the Indian Open.

Other Australians in the field this week are Sam Brazel, Jason Norris, Terry Pilkadaris, Daniel Nisbet, David Gleeson, Jake Higginbottom along with New Zealand’s Ben Campbell.