Nick Dougherty of England fired a 10-under-par 62 to secure an easy first round lead at the Maybank Malaysian Open that started today at the Ross Watson-designed Kota Permai Golf and Country Club near Kuala Lumpur.

With a first-round score card almost filled with birdies, the 25-year-old Dougherty slipped past Asian Tour Order of Merit leaders Mark Brown of New Zealand and SS Chowrasia by gathering a 10-under par score.

Trailing Dougherty was Simon Dysan who 7-under par on the 16th hole as of this writing. Peter Heldblom and SS Chowrasia took the third spot after firing a 6-under-par 66.      

Dougherty described the 6,979-yard Ross Watson-designed Kota Permai Golf and Country Club course near Kuala Lumpur as “a thinking man’s” challenge.

 ”I think the course is great and the greens are in extremely good condition,” said the player currently ranked 51st in the world.

“It is nice to play a course where you don’t just thrash it off the tee with a driver. We play quite a few of those these days,” he added.