Lawrie hits form in Singapore

Singapore Masters Update:Ireland's Peter Lawrie made a fine start to his Singapore Masters campaign by carding an opening six-under 66 at the Laguna National Golf and Country Club, to leave himself two off the pace.

The Dubliner made a flying start with six birdies in his opening eight holes. A bogey at nine took the shine of an otherwise flawless outward half. Lawrie went on to pick up two further birdies on the back nine but once again dropped a shot at the end, this time with a closing bogey at the 18th.

Lawrie is two behind China's Wen-Chong Liang and Australia's Marcus Fraser on eight-under. Scotland's Barry Hume, India's Jyoti Randhawa and Japan's Shingo Katayama are tied second on seven-under.

Damien McGrane opened with a two-under 70 but in relatively easy conditions that still leaves the Meath professional outside the top 50. That said, it was better than Gary Murphy, who was a further shot behind with three holes to play.

All week Darren Clarke has stressed the need for patience with his game. And if today is anything to go by he may require saintly qualities for an opening two over 74 will surely test his resolve to the full.

Liang and Fraser both shot bogey free rounds. Liang took command after a blistering stretch in the middle of his round saw him fire eight birdies in 11 holes from the fifth.

"I played well on the first nine and, after firing three birdies, I was a bit more relaxed heading to the last nine holes," said the 28-year-old. "I carried my momentum into the back nine and I'm pleased with my overall first-round performance."

Fraser matched Liang's 64 late in the afternoon, finishing his round with a flourish by chipping in from 40 feet for birdie at the 18th.

"I couldn't be happier," said the Australian, who has missed the cut in six of his seven events in 2007. "I just did everything well today, I hit a lot of wedge shots in good and apart from a couple of wayward drives, my driving was pretty good.

"It was pretty consistent. I didn't make anything long but the chip-in at the last just topped off a great day."