Miguel Angel Jimenez leads as first round completes

Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez emerged as the first round leader of the UD$1.25 million May bank Malaysian O pen after completing his last hole early Friday morning.

The Ryder Cup star signed for an eight-under-par 64 at Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club to lead by one stroke from Thailand's Thaworn Wiratchant , last year's Asian Tour Order of Merit leader. Thaworn was amongst those who managed to complete their first rounds on Thursday before a lightning storm interrupted play for nearly three hours.

The lead could have been wider had Jimenez not missed a four-foot birdie chance on his last hole. He has already played nine holes of his second round and dropped back to seven-under-par for the tournament.

Jimenez said: "I played very solid all round. This morning I had a four foot putt for birdie but I missed that one. Overall, I'm satisfied with the way I played and obviously good to be leading at this stage."

Asian Tour member Adam Le Vesctonte of Australia and Korea 's Charlie Wi charged up the leaderboard with a 66 after completing their rounds this morning. Vesconte , the reigning Philippine O pen champion, played his four remaining holes in one-under.

There was heartbreak for Malaysian amateur S. Sivachandran , who signed a first round 67 this morning but was disqualified after he missed his 10.20am second round tee time by 10 minutes.