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SINGAPORE -- Australia's Marcus Fraser and Liang Wenchong of China shot opening rounds of 8-under-par 64 Thursday to share a one-stroke lead at the Clariden Leu Singapore Masters. The $1.1 million tournament is co-sanctioned by the European Tour and the Asian Tour.

Both players made eight birdies in blemish-free rounds over the Laguna National Golf and Country Club's 7,099-yard par-72 Classic Course. The event is also being played on the club's more difficult 7,207-yard, par-72 Masters Course, which will be utilized for the weekend play after the cut is made on Friday.

Shingo Katayama of Japan shot eight birdies but conceded a bogey on the par-5 fourth hole for a 7-under 65 to share third place on the leaderboard with India's Jyoti Randhawa and Barry Hume of Scotland.

England's Graeme Storm, Ireland's Peter Lawrie, Angelo Que of the Philippines, Australia Mark Brown and Germany's Martin Kaymer were a further shot behind on 6 under as all of the day's top 14 scores came on the Classic Course.

Englishman Lee Westwood shot four birdies but bogeyed twice on the back nine for a 2-under 70, while fellow Ryder Cup star Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland finished at 2-over 74 after three bogeys and a double bogey.

Nick Dougherty of England was at 2-under 70 after mixing three birdies with a bogey, and compatriot David Howell was 1-under 71 with three bogeys.

Europe's outgoing Ryder Cup Captain Ian Woosnam of Wales had five double bogeys to finish with a 1-over 73.

Liang, who sank four consecutive birdies on the back nine, attributed his performance to steady drives and consistent putting.

"I played well on the first nine and after having fired three birdies, I was a bit more relaxed heading into the last nine holes," said Liang. "I carried my momentum into the back nine and I'm pleased with my overall first round performance."

Liang's second shot on the par-5 No. 12 landed in the bunker, but he chipped out to 6 feet for a birdie putt.

Fraser, whose lackluster season so far includes missing the cut at last week's Johnnie Walker Classic in Thailand, got off to good start with birdies on the first two holes. A 40-foot birdie chip on the final hole pushed him into the shared lead.

"I just did everything well today, I mean I hit a lot of wedge shots in good," he said. "And apart from a couple of wayward drives, my driving was pretty good."

Randhawa recovered from a bogey on No. 3 after a dropped shot with three consecutive birdies from the fourth, while Hume made an eagle on the par-5 No. 15 on top of six birdies.

Irishman Peter Lawrie said he was happy to complete the round two shots off the pace with a 6-under 66 after failing to make the cut in the last four tournaments he's played -- including the Johnnie Walker Classic and the Maybank Malaysian Open. Lawrie shot eight birdies, one of which was with an 8-iron from 20 feet at No. 2, but also bogeyed twice.

Defending champion Mardan Mamat of Singapore scored four birdies in a bogey-free round to finish 4-under 68. He was one of five players to record the day's best score of 68 on the more difficult Masters Course, with the others being Simon Yates of Scotland, Gaurav Ghei of India, New Zealand's Richard Lee and France's Jean Van de Velde.

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