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PHUKET, Thailand -- Brad Kennedy of Australia shot a 7-under 65 and held a one-shot lead over Mike Weir and three others after Thursday's first round of the Johnnie Walker Classic. The $2.45 million event is co-sanctioned by the European Tour, Asian Tour and Australasian Tour.

Stephen Gallacher, Peter Hanson and Graeme Storm joined Weir in second place after shooting 66s at the Blue Canyon Country Club. Scott Gardiner, Richard Lee, Graeme McDowell and Jeev Mikha Singh are a further shot adrift, while England's Nick Dougherty and world No. 8 Retief Goosen head a group on 4 under.

Colin Montgomerie carded a 3-under 69 and England's Paul Casey finished tied for 44th after a 1-under 71.

World No. 4 Adam Scott and No. 6 Ernie Els were well off the pace. Scott had an eagle on the ninth hole, but five bogeys saw him finish the day at 2-over 74. Els had two double bogeys and three bogeys against six birdies for a 1-over 73.

"I had two double bogeys on easy holes. If it wasn't for that I would have had a pretty good round," said Els, a two-time Johnnie Walker champion. "There is a lot of golf left. Obviously, this is not the way you want to start, but I made six birdies today. I had a couple of mistakes here and there but I feel like I played well.

"Obviously, I need a really low one somewhere along the lines," he added. "Hopefully, we can do it tomorrow."

Storm is confident he can maintain his challenge after his opening 66. Storm, who narrowly missed out on a top-10 finish at last month's Malaysian Open, produced a solid display around the tricky course and that included an eagle 2 at the start of his back nine when he holed a 97-yard wedge shot on the 10th hole and a solitary bogey late in his round.

"It's been fantastic. It's the first time I've been to Thailand at I didn't expect it to be as hot as this," he said. "It was nice this morning as the conditions were so perfect, it was a nice start to the day.

"Obviously my first aim is to make the cut, but I came here playing well and I hope to finish in the top 10," he added. "That was my goal at the beginning of the week, so who knows from here. I'll just keep doing the same thing.

Kennedy dropped his only shot of the day on the tricky par-3 14th, but five birdies on the back nine, including a 2 at the 17th, proved crucial.

"I had a great start, chipping in on the first for a birdie and then I hit a great four iron to two feet on the second," he said. "I just eased my way through the round after that, I also hit a lot of fairways."

Dougherty, starting on the back nine, struck five birdies in his opening six holes, including a 2 at the par-3 14th, to reach the turn 5 under. But despite shooting a birdie at the first, Dougherty dropped two shots to head home in 37.

"I think 4 under is good on any course, particularly this one," said Dougherty. "As much as I'm disappointed with finishing 4 under, that's because I was 6 under through 10."

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