First-round of 63 puts Ricky Barnes in driving seat

American Ricky Barnes stormed to the top of the leaderboard at the CIMB Asia-Pacific Classic by firing an eight-under-par 63 to establish with a one-shot advantage over Ryan Moore.

The 29-year-old carded eight birdies at Mines Resort and Golf Club in Kuala Lumpur to edge ahead of Moore in the first co-sanctioned Asian and PGA Tour event.

"I made it a very stress-free round on myself by putting from about 20 or 25 feet. It seemed like my putts were all from that region," said Barnes.

"I played really well. I got off to a good start by making some good swings and had a ten-foot look at eagle on three which got my round started."

Fellow-American Moore also returned a bogey-free effort with seven birdies to end the day second. "For me, this is my last chance to get a win and finish off the year the way I want to," said the 27-year-old.

"It was a good season. I feel like it was better than last year and last year I had a win. That's what I'm coming here for. It's my last tournament of the year.

"The greens rolled good and you can give yourself good birdie chances. It gives you a chance to make 20, 25 footers."

Englishman Brian Davies, Swede Carl Pettersson and Korea's Charlie Wi are tied for third on six under.

Scotland's Martin Laird, who suffered the disappointment of losing the Justin Timberlake tournament in Las Vegas to Jonathan Byrd's hole-in-one at the weekend, ended the day in a group of four golfers on five under par, while Luke Donald, of England, and South Africa's Ernie Els are four under following rounds of 67.