Australia’s Marcus Fraser who shot a seven-under par 65 at Kuala Lumpur’s Saujana Golf and Country Club, to share the lead at the Maybank Championship with Spaniard Nacho Elvira. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

NACHO Elvira and former champion Marcus Fraser lead the way at the end of the first day of the Maybank Championship, following a remarkable morning of scoring at Kuala Lumpur’s Saujana Golf and County Club.

Australian Fraser, who won the first staging of the tournament in 2016 to seal his third European Tour title, and Spain’s four-time Challenge Tour winner Elvira, each carded eight birdies and a single bogey to get to seven-under par in Malaysia, on Thursday.

Fraser said: “I’ve been playing well having a hit at home but I haven’t played a whole lot of competitive golf.

“It was nice to go out and play well in a great tournament. It’s been a good day. I played steady all day and putted really well.

“The new greens here, well they’ve done a great job. Unfortunately, by no fault of their own, they were diseased and they lost them last year.

“Now they have rebuilt them and they are fantastic.  Unbelievable to be able to turn them around in 12 months.

“In the practice round the course was firm and bouncy and they have small undulating greens.

“With that combination you would think the scoring wouldn’t be as good. But it’s a great surface to putt on, not too much grain in the greens.”

Joint leader Elvira was pleased to fnally shoot a low number around Saujana. “To be honest seven-under is always good. With my record here not being too great, 65 is very good.

“It’s tough, it’s really humid. It’s not as hot in the morning but it’s really humid so it’s tough to stay hydrated.

“My caddie told me today that I hit 12 fairways. I have been hitting my irons good and putting great, I just needed to put the ball in play.

“I wasn’t able to do that the first few weeks (of the season) but I think I managed to do that in Qatar and also today.

“I’m happy the way things are going, happy to be turning around my golf game a little bit. We’ll see where that gets me.”

It had looked as though the early leaders efforts would be eclipsed when Angelo Que took full advantage of the newly-rebuilt greens at the Kuala Lumpur venue to make nine birdies and no bogeys in his opening 11 holes.

But the Filipino made back-to-back double bogeys at the 15th and 16th holes to fall from the top of the leaderboard.

Que finished his round with a birdie at the 18th to join Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond and Austrian Matthias Schwab in a tie for third, a single shot behind the leaders on six under par.

Que said: “I thought I was dreaming when I got to nine-under after 11 holes. But these things happen especially when you play well.

“You try not to think too much and get ahead of yourself by ignoring it and keep playing. But it sorts of plays on your mind too.

“I got unlucky on 15 where I hit the fairway but didn’t have a shot at the green.

“I got an unlucky lie and didn’t make up and down. It was the same story on the next hole.

“These things happen but lucky I still managed to make 10 birdies today. So, six-under is always a good score. I started off with a birdie and ended off with a birdie. So that’s nice.”

Belgian Thomas Pieters is another stroke back after his opening round of 67, one ahead of eight players at four-under, including four-time Major Champion Ernie Els, and his fellow South Africans Dean Burmester and Brandon Stone.

There is then a group of 11 players at three-under, while European Ryder Cup Captain Padraig Harrington made a steady return to action after four months out with a wrist injury, shooting a first round 70 to sit alongside 14 other players at two under par.

Harrington, who is returning after a broken bone in his wrist delayed his start ot the season, said: “I actually really enjoyed my day. I wish I was like that every day.

“Four months off, I was buzzing out there, really enjoying the battle of getting it done. I struggled so badly off the tee, so it was an interesting contest for me.

“There is substantial difference between playing a practice round and playing with a card in your hand.

“I really struggled with my swing but I haven’t forgotten how to play golf. I managed my way around the golf course.

“I worked hard for the score. Overall 70 is a well worked score.”

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Padraig Harrington is back in Malaysia for the Maybank Championship as he continues to recover from a wrist injury. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

PADRAIG Harrington is teeing off his 2019 season in buoyant mood at the Maybank Championship as his recovery from a wrist injury exceeds expectations.

The next European Ryder Cup captain is making his first appearance in the Kuala Lumpur event.

But the two-time Open winner has previously enjoyed success in Malaysia, recording five top eight finishes in the Malaysian Open, including tied sixth on his last outing six years ago.

Those results also include two runner-up spots, with one coming at this week’s venue, Saujana Golf and Country Club, as he finished just behind fellow three-time Major champion Vijay Singh in 2001.

Harrington, who won the Open at Carnoustie in 2007 before becoming one of just seven players since the war to successfully defend the Claret Jug 12 months later – at Royal Birkdale – admitted he is still not fully fit.

Padraig, who did not realise he had broken a bone in a wrist in a slip before Christmas, until it was spotted in early January requiring a splint, said: “I wouldn’t say the wrist is 100 per cent –it might not be 100 per cent for about nine months, or at least another six or seven months. I’m working away at it.

“It’s interesting to come out here. I hit shots on the range here, I hit shots last week and the wrist is holding up, there’s no doubt about it.

“There’s a certain amount of mobility issues and I need to work on the strength of it, but in general it’s right on track. If anything, it’s probably ahead of expectations.

“Traditionally the Malaysian Open was my first event of the season, if you go back 20 years.

“It’s my first event this year and I’m looking forward to that good karma, let’s say.

“It’s a very good set up this year. The changes to the greens have substantially changed the way the course will play.

“The greens are firm. It looks like the changes are excellent, a really, really good challenge.”

Joining the 2008 USPGA Champion in the field is fellow European Tour and Ryder Cup stalwart Miguel Ángel Jiménez, who echoed Harrington’s praise for the recent changes at Saujana.

The flamboyant Spaniard has enjoyed great success in Asia over the years, with his 21 European Tour victories including five Hong Kong Open titles.

The 55-year-old is feeling as competitive as ever as he successfully balances life on the European Tour and the over 50s circuit, capturing his first two senior Major titles last year including the Senior Open on the Staysure Tour.

Jiménez – nicknamed The Mechanic on Tour – said: “There have been a few changes, the first couple of holes are different.

“The greens are all new. The golf course is in very good shape. I feel comfortable here. I like this kind of weather. It’s nice, I feel good.

“Good golf course, good design. I enjoy coming to Malaysia.

“I’m still playing well on both tours. Now I dedicate more than 20 per cent to senior golf.

“But I still like to play on the European Tour too. I play maybe six tournaments a year.

“I still have my category to play, and as long as I have my category I will keep playing. If I didn’t feel competitive I wouldn’t come here.

“When the moment comes that I don’t feel competitive, I won’t come. There is no point coming just to show up.”

The co-sanctioned Maybank Championship is an event much closer to home for Malaysia’s highest ranked player Gavin Green.

The 2017 Asian Tour Order of Merit winner has played in all three previous editions of the tournament and is relishing the prospect of chasing a first European Tour title, and his second on the Asian Tour, in front of a home crowd.

Green said: “It’s such a big one for me. I love playing in front of a home crowd.

“Maybank have helped me and been with me through the years. It would be really good to play well and finish as high as I can.

“I feel good, I’ve been playing well the last few weeks. I’ve just had a couple of hiccups here and there that disrupted the whole game, but it’s been good so far.

“I got my coach down for a couple of days and worked with him, trying to get ready for this event.”

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