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CARLSBERG MALAYSIAN OPEN: Round 1 Report

. Holland's Maarten Lafeber held a one stroke lead over the field after a 67 with England's Robert Coles and current Masters Champion Vijay Singh tied for second and six more players a further stroke back.

They included in-form New Zealander Michael Campbell, who birdied the last two holes for a 69, and Italian former Ryder Cup player Costantino Rocca, showing a return to form.

First round leader Lafeber after an outward half of 37, came home in 30 with six birdies in eight holes to set the pace on five under par.

The 26-year-old from Eindhoven, who sold 7,500 shares in himself at 50 dollars apiece in 1998 to finance his golf, said: "You don't have to be really long off the tee but you need to be in the right position on the greens to make birdies.

"It's almost impossible to two putt from some positions on the greens and I made two three putts on my front nine. I made some swing changes at the start of the season and I was struggling to start with but it's getting better day by day."

Coles lost his card last year, finishing 123rd in the oder of merit, but finished 3rd at Q school. After a very slow start to this year Coles played well today. Starting at the 10th he went to the turn in 33, starting back with consecutive birdies for a share of the lead. However a bogey at the 6th meant he had to be content finishing 1 shot behind the leader.

"Unfortunately I was flagging at the end," he added. "It got so sticky out there at the end and I bogeyed the sixth but I was very pleased with the way I played."

Singh was understandably happier with his opening effort that contained four birdies and no dropped shots.

"I played very solidly and did not miss too many shots," the Fijian said. "I hit every green and I'm very pleased with the way I started.

"It could have been one or two more under quite comfortably but it's only the first day. I'm not really worried about the leaderboard right now, I only start looking at that at the weekend.

"There were a lot of chances but the greens are very difficult. There was nothing wrong with my putting, it was misreading the greens. You have to know them well to see the undulations and the grain and you have to be very patient."

Ireland's Padraig Harrington had to settle for an opening two under par 70 after dropping shots at two of his last three holes, finishing alongside Wales' Stephen Dodd and Worthing's Gary Evans.

A new slimline John Daly carded a level par 72 thanks to an eagle on the last after a steady round with just one birdie and three bogeys.

"It was a working man's day," the American said. "It was a great finish and I needed that badly. It was sort of an Augusta putt, about 18 feet and it broke about six feet."

The first round had to be halted with a few players still on the course when a violent thunderstorm broke.

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