Jamie Donaldson sets the pace at the Thailand Golf Championship

Jamie Donaldson fired a bogey-free 63 to open up a three-shot lead after the opening round of the Thailand Golf Championship.

The Welshman, who has not finished higher than fifth in 27 worldwide starts this year, struck nine birdies in near-perfect conditions at the Amata Spring Country Club to sit three clear of a group that includes last week's Ho Tram Open champion Sergio Garcia.

Having got off to a lightning start with four consecutive birdies, Donaldson maintained his momentum by recovering from a wayward tee shot at the ninth to get up-and-down and save par.

A gain at the 10th was followed by four more over the final four holes to set the clubhouse target at nine under, with Garcia joined in a tie for second by local duo Chanat Sakulpolphaisan and Chinnarat Phadungsil.

"I played really good all day; I never really missed any fairways," Donaldson told reporters. "I couldn't really do things wrong today.

"I'm happy with my score and I just need to continue this form for the next few days. I will just try to keep playing well and not concentrate on things that are out of my control or ahead of me."

Phadungsil had looked set to cut into Donaldson's advantage by birdieing seven of his opening 12 holes before losing ground by running up a double-bogey at the long 15th, while Garcia responded to a slow start by posting six gains in an eight-hole stretch along the back nine.

Live Asian Tour Golf

"I hit some very good shots throughout the day and feel like I'm in a good position going into the next day," Garcia said. "It was a wonderful back nine.

"The ball was going far so it was difficult to guess some of the iron shots but, yeah, in the end overall obviously I am very happy with shooting five under on the back nine.

Matt Fitzpatrick continued his fine 2015 with a four-under 68 to sit alongside Martin Kaymer in the group tied-seventh, with Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke a further stroke off the pace.  

"It was a tough day as it was very hot but I played really solid," Kaymer said. "My putting was good and the only fairway I missed was on 16 but I had a good save there, so four under par is a very good start."

Defending champion Lee Westwood finished his front nine with three consecutive bogeys to slip down the leaderboard, with the Englishman matching top seed Bubba Watson's opening-round 71.

Watch the Thailand Golf Championship live throughout the week on Sky Sports 4 - your home of golf