A BIRDIE at the 18th hole saw Eddie Pepperell card his best opening round of the season at the King’s Cup in Thailand.

The Abingdon golfer signed for a three-under-par 67 to finish the day in a share of tenth place at the Phoenix Gold club in Pattaya.

It was just what was required for Pepperell, who has only had one top-ten finish in 2016 and is 93rd on the European Tour rankings.

He opened with a birdie, but quickly found himself over par with a bogey at the fourth, before dropping two shots on the fifth.

From then on the 25-year-old from Frilford Heath did not have a blemish on his card.

Birdies at the sixth and eighth got him back to level par and he went on to pick up shots at the 11th, 16th and 18th to come home in 32 shots.

It put him four shots off the lead, held by Thailand’s Sattaya Supupramai, when he began his second round in the early hours of tomorrow morning.