Thailand Golf Championship: Lee Westwood one shot off the lead after first round

Lee Westwood looks primed to continue his excellent record in Asia as he ended the first day of the Thailand Golf Championship just one off the lead.

The Worksop star opened with a two-under 70 in blustery conditions at the tough Amata Spring Country Club, while his Ryder Cup team-mates Martin Kaymer and Sergio Garcia were one stroke further back on a difficult day for scoring.

Westwood began with a confident birdie and picked up two more at the seventh and ninth either side of his first bogey of the day, and he got to three under with a well-crafted four at the long 11th.

He gave the shot back at the next and blotted his card again at the 16th, but he rolled in his fifth birdie putt of the day on the final green to earn a share of fourth with Aussie journeyman Scott Hend and local player Tirawat Kaewsiribandit, who holed his second shot for a remarkable eagle at the ninth - his final hole.

"It's much tougher this year. If you find the rough you almost certainly drop a shot." said Westwood. "But I played pretty solid overall.

"There was a bit of breeze as well, tricky flag positions, greens were quite firm - it was a tough test. It's important to hit the fairways."

Live Asian Tour Golf

Penal rough

Hend's compatriot Marcus Fraser was one of only four players to break 70 after he mixed two bogeys with five birdies, including a chip-in for a three at the last, to match the early effort of last week's Indonesian Open runner-up Thanyakon Khrongpha.

"That was a nice way to finish the round," said Fraser, who has been sidelined for the majority of the year with a wrist injury. "It was pretty tough out there. That rough is penal."

They were later joined at the top by Richard T Lee and Lu Wei-chih, who also handed in five-birdie 69s on a day where nobody in the 126-player field managed to keep a bogey off their card.

Kaymer endured an erratic start with two birdies, one bogey and a double-bogey over his first five holes, but he managed to find some consistency and got himself to two under before closing with a bogey at the ninth.

"It was a tough day at the office," said the US Open champion. "The wind made it very difficult, and anything under par here is a good score.

"It took me a little while to get used to the greens, and I will also have to make adjustments to my tee shots as I haven't got my yardages quite right."

Tougher

Defending champion Garcia, who has former tennis ace Juan Carlos Ferrero on his bag this week, also found the going tough as he offset four birdies with three dropped shots.

The Spaniard echoed the views of Westwood, Fraser and Kaymer as the entire field struggled to combat the strong winds and the punishing rough.

"With the windy conditions the course was much tougher than before," Garcia said. "I just tried to minimise mistakes."

Rising English star Tommy Fleetwood and current Asian Tour Order of Merit leader David Lipsky were among the other notable names at one under, but headline acts Bubba Watson and Victor Dubuisson both have their work cut out to make the weekend.

Dubuisson, who has been troubled by a back injury over the last month, was level par with five to play before he dropped three consecutive shots from the 14th and returned a scrappy 75.

Masters champion Watson closed out a front-nine 40 with three straight bogeys, although he hit back with birdies at 10 and 11 before giving them back at the 14th and 16th in his opening 76.

Watch day two of the Thailand Golf Championship live on Sky Sports 4, coverage resumes at 6am.