Darren Clarke is six shots off the lead following round one of the Thailand Championship on three over after an opening round of 75.
Thanyakon Khrongpha, second to Padraig Harrington in last weekend’s Indonesia Open, was one of four players to set the early pace at the Asian Tour event with a first round of 69.
Also on four under par are Australia’s Marcus Fraser, Richard Lee of Canada and Lu Wei-chih of Taiwan.
Scott Hend of Australian, England’s Lee Westwood and Tirawat Kaewsiribandit of Thailand were a stroke further back on two under par.
