Defending champion Lee Westwood and Graeme McDowell opened up with matching, 6-under 66s in Thursday's first round and the European Ryder Cup teammates share the early lead at the Maybank Malaysian Open.
Westwood, a 23-time winner on the European Tour, had last won at the 2012 Nordea Masters before hoisting the trophy at this event last year. McDowell, the 2010 U.S. Open champion who has 10 total victories on tour, last won at the Alstom Open de France last season.
Tommy Fleetwood, Danny Chia and Sunghoon Kang all finished the first round at 5-under 67 at Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club and they are tied for third.
Alejandro Canizares, Anders Hansen, Prom Meesawat and Richard Bland are all tied for sixth after shooting 4-under 68s. Stephen Gallacher headlines a group of six players tied for 10th at 3-under 69. He is joined there by Richard Lee, Paul McGinley, Andrew Dodt, Jake Higginbottom and Paul Waring.
MORE TO FOLLOW.
[SportsNetwork.com]
