Schwartzel takes early lead

Kuala Lumpur - Charl Schwartzel of South Africa shot an 8 under 64 to take the first-round clubhouse lead on Thursday at the Malaysian Open.

Starting from the tenth tee he produced nine birdies at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club against one bogey.

Schwartzel led by one shot from India's Jeev Milkha Singh, with South African Louis Oosthuizen and American Jason Knutzon a stroke further back.

Schwartzel and Oosthuizen were battling the lingering effects of jetlag after a 30-hour flight to Malaysia early in the week from Augusta where they had both competed in the Masters. Oosthuizen lost to Bubba Watson in a playoff at Augusta.

"I got a good night's sleep and woke up this morning before the alarm," Schwartzel said. "The tiredness seems to catch me more in the afternoon than the morning so it felt pretty good.

"It could have been one or two lower as I missed a couple of chances towards the end there but I am happy with 64 - I haven't shot a number like that for a while."

With preferred lies in operation every time the tournament has been staged at the course, Schwartzel's 64 could not be listed as an official course record.

Singh began his round with an eagle at the par-five 10th after hitting his three wood to within 20 feet of the pin.

"I had a lot of birdie chances," Singh said. "I hit a lot of greens and my shots were close to the flags, I made a lot of putts too. I would take a round like that on this golf course any day."

Oosthuizen was unable to repeat the double-eagle 2 he made in the final round of the Masters, but he did eagle the par-five third hole as well as sinking six birdies.

Scores after round one of the $2.5 million Maybank Malaysian Open at par-72 Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club on Thursday:

64 - Charl Schwartzel (RSA)

65 - Jeev Milkha Singh (IND)

66 - Jason Knutzon (USA), Louis Oosthuizen (RSA), Jyoti Randhawa (IND)

67 - Antonio Lascuna (PHI) Rafael Cabrera-Bello (ESP), Stephen Gallacher (SCO)

68 - Soren Kjeldsen (DEN), Joonas Granberg (FIN), Romain Wattel (FRA), Prom Meesawat (THA), Ricardo Gonzalez (ARG), Gaurav Ghei (IND)

69 - Marcel Siem (GER), Pablo Larrazabal (ESP), Lorenzo Gagli (ITA), Richard Green (AUS), Scott Jamieson (SCO), Shiv Kapur (IND), Anthony Kang (USA), Julien Quesne (FRA), Lee Sung (KOR), Simon Dyson (ENG), Branden Grace (RSA), Lin Wen-tang (TPE), Danny Willett (ENG), Panuphol Pittayarat (THA)

Selected:

70 - Martin Kaymer (GER), Matteo Manassero (ITA), Jbe Kruger (RSA), Zhang Lian-Wei (CHN)

72 - Alvaro Quiros (ESP), Todd Hamilton (USA), Michael Campbell (NZL), Liang Wenchong (CHN)