Thursday 30 October 2014 16:50, UK
Sweden's Rikard Karlberg shot a bogey-free 65 to top the first round leaderboard by two shots ahead of a big-name field at the CIMB Classic in Malaysia on Thursday.
Karlberg grabbed seven birdies without a bogey at Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club – with five of those in a front nine of 31 followed by further birdies on the 17th and 18th to finish seven-under-par.
"I just went out there and tried to be as relaxed as possible and just have fun," said Karlberg, who has struggled with a viral infection all year.
American duo Billy Hurley and Brian Stuard shared second place on five-under with Angelo Que of the Philippines, while defending champion Ryan Moore is well placed in a group of eight players tied for fifth on four-under, just three off the lead.
With them is former Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III, who despite turning 50 in April and becoming eligible for the Seniors Tour will be competing on the regular PGA Tour for a little longer.
"I'm very blessed that I can play both tours," Love said on PGA Tour.com. "I'm exempt on the regular tour except for the biggest events and I think I am going to stay out here for a little bit longer.
"The Open is at St Andrews this year and I am not in the Players (Championship). I would like to make another run at getting in those events and it's nice to play on the regular tour if you can still make cuts and compete.
"The goal is to try and at least challenge for a win before I get to 51."
World no 4 Sergio Garcia is the highest ranked player in the field and is well in touch on three-under despite a fading back nine which made him settle for 69 after turning in four-under.
"I felt like I played quite well. Obviously I didn't hole a lot of putts. I hit some really good putts that I had quite a lot of lip-outs, but other than that, it felt good," Garcia said.
Garcia’s playing partner Lee Westwood could only return a 72, but had reasons to be cheerful after recovering from a poor start on the course where he won the Malaysian Open on the European Tour in April.
Starting on the back nine, Westwood dropped a shot on his opening hole and ran up a double bogey on the 14th before picking up birdies on the 16th and 18th.
Another bogey on the second dropped Westwood back to two over par, but the former world number one then eagled the par-five fifth.
"I struggled with the speed of the greens more than anything, but made a nice eagle at five, which got me back to level par. So not too much damage done," he said.
