Fraser & Wenchong top opening round leaderboard

Australia's Marcus Fraser and Liang Wenchong of China shot opening rounds of 8-under-par 64 Thursday to share a one-stroke lead at the Singapore Masters.

Both players made eight birdies in blemish-free rounds on the Laguna National Golf and Country Club's Classic course.

The co-sanctioned Asian and European Tour tournament is also being played on the club's Masters course.

Shingo Katayama of Japan shot eight birdies but conceded a bogey on the par-5 4th hole for a 7-under 65 to share third place on the leaderboard with India's Jyoti Randhawa and Barry Hume of Scotland.

Liang, who sank four consecutive birdies on the back nine, attributed his performance to steady drives and consistent putting.

"I played well on the first nine and after having fired three birdies, I was a bit more relaxed heading into the last nine holes," Liang said. "I carried my momentum into the back nine and I'm pleased with my overall first round performance."

Fraser, whose lackluster season so far includes missing the cut at last week's Johnnie Walker Classic, got off to good start with birdies on the first two holes. A 40-foot birdie chip on the final hole pushed him into the shared lead.

"I just did everything well today, I mean I hit a lot of wedge shots in good and apart from a couple of wayward drives, my driving was pretty good," Fraser said.