A strong run on the back nine put Tiger Woods in contention after the first round of the CIMB Classic, three shots behind Troy Matteson.
The world number two birdied five of the last nine holes to end on five-under par. Having begun with two early birdies, Woods dropped back to even par at the turn before making his move late on.
"What is frustrating is turning at even par and I'm eight back," Woods said of his round. "I feel like I just got run over there. Wind is picking up a bit and it's going to get more difficult.
"Three or four under par was my number on the back nine - if I could shoot that, I'm still right in the ballgame. I happened to get one more, which was a bonus."
Despite being a tad off the pace, Woods was happy with his round overall.
"I really started hitting the ball quite well at the end of the front nine. I happened to miss two short putts," he said.
"Realistically it could have been seven or eight (under). But even at the turn, and still post five (under), it was a nice little comeback.
"It's going to take 20-plus this week to win the tournament, so I've got to be aggressive and we've got to go get it."
Like Woods, Matteson shone in the latter stages of his round, finishing with four straight birdies to add to the four he had notched up on the front nine.
A two-time PGA Tour winner Matteson was flawless and closed out his round in style with a birdie from the greenside bunker.
"The pin is really tricky on 18. I thought I hit a pretty good shot in there, and it just barely landed over the bunker and trickled back in the bunker, left me on the upslope. I knew I'd be doing good if I could leave myself seven or eight feet for par, and it bounced and slam dunked in the hole," he said.
"The course is great. The grass is a lot like what I play back home. You've got to play your way around here. You can't just hit driver on every hole, you've got to make some decisions, you've got to hit some irons, you've got to hit some 3 woods."
Americans Jeff Overton, Brian Harman and Robert Garrigus are Matteson's nearest challengers, one shot off the pace on seven-under.
Tom Gills and Gaganjeet Bhullar of India are a further shot back, with the in-form Bhullar sinking an eagle and five birdies.
Danny Chia, who joins Woods in a group of six on five-under, gave the locals reason to cheer with a bogey-free round but admitted he felt pressure to perform.
"You know, when I was driving into the entrance, I already can feel like the pressure is building up. The closer to the clubhouse, I felt like a rabbit was jumping inside of me. But fortunately I managed to calm myself the minute I teed off," he explained.
"I didn't try any silly shots, I just played what I had to do. I was pretty calm, didn't really try to surprise myself or make myself get excited. I holed a few good putts."
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