Ryder Cup star Miguel Angel Jimenez's birdie blitz was halted only by the fading light in the rain-delayed opening round of the Maybank Malaysian Open but the Spaniard is still in a strong position at eight-under-par with one hole to play.
Jimenez led by one shot from clubhouse leader Thaworn Wiratchant when he was called off the course after an afternoon thunderstorm meant nearly three hours' play was lost earlier in the day.
However, with the 615-yard par-five last to come he could further extend his advantage at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club.
Jimenez, who has won at least once on the European Tour for the last three years, enjoyed a superb start with birdies at the first and second before an eagle at the par-five third took him to four-under.
His next birdie did not come until the 10th but he then had a run of three in successive holes from the 14th to leave him eight-under.
The 39-year-old Wiratchant, the 2005 Asian Tour Order of Merit winner, benefited from the sunny early conditions to sink eight birdies in a seven-under-par 65.
That would have equalled the course record but the scores will not count because preferred lies are in use this week.
The Asian Tour Order of Merit winner was safely in the clubhouse before lightning activity in the vicinity, followed by a heavy downpour, brought the players off the course at the Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club with a return looking increasingly unlikely.
Wiratchant, starting at the tenth, began birdie-birdie and turned in 32 after picking up another two shots at the 17th and 18th.
Four birdies between the second and the seventh put the 39-year-old on track for the course record but he bogeyed his last hole, the 410-yard ninth.
That left him one ahead of Kilkenny's Gary Murphy, England's Richard Finch, Welshman Garry Houston and Italian Francesco Molinari.
A bogey at the par four sixth was the only blemish on Murphy's excellent round of 66. Having also started at the tenth, the 33-year-old was quickly into stride with four birdies on his outward nine, and followed with three more coming home to leave him just one shot shy of Wiratchant.
Pre-tournament favourite Padraig Harrington, in his first start of the year, had a promising start with three birdies - at the 12th, 17th and 18th – but could not capitalise on that after the turn as he played the next nine holes in regulation.
Highlight of the day was Englishman Ross Fisher's hole in one with a pitching wedge at the 146-yard fourth but he immediately carded a double-bogey seven at the next and finished alongside Harrington at three-under after a mixed round which included four birdies and a bogey.
Waterville's David Higgins also made a fine start moving to two-under before the inclement weather saw him return to the clubhouse after 15 holes, while Belfast's Michael Hoey finished on one-under with just nine holes played.
