Kieran Pratt keeps Australia's flag high at the Ballantine's Championship

Australia's flag was kept flying high by Kieran Pratt after carding a flawless five-under-par 67 to take a share of the first round clubhouse lead at the weather-disrupted Ballantine's Championship on Thursday.

Poor visibility and rain in the morning led to play being suspended and with over two hours of play lost, all 78 players from the afternoon session will have to return at 7.30am on Friday morning to resume their first round.

Pratt is no stranger to success, having won his maiden Asian Tour title in Myanmar last year.

The 25-year-old Australian, who was once ranked 15th in the World Golf Amateur Ranking, however knows he has to keep himself grounded to keep up Australia's proud record of having wins in Thailand, India and the United States in the past two months.

"That's a great start, but the tournament probably starts on Sunday really.  So I'll try to get myself into position to contend and then we'll go from there," said Pratt, who is among the 10 Australians from the Asian Tour competing at the Ballantine's Championship this week.

The sixth edition of the Ballantine's Championship will be the first event to be played in Korea on the Asian Tour this season and is once again sanctioned by the Asian Tour, European Tour and Korea PGA.