It was only good enough for a one shot lead over the field though as the early starters took advantage of perfect conditions at Singapore Island Country Club.

England's Anthony Wall carded a seven under par 64 to lie joint second, with Holland's Maarten Lafeber with Anthony Kang of Korea and Chia-Yuh Hong of Taiwan two shots further adrift.

Seve Ballesteros failed to join in the low scoring however, the Spaniard only able to manage a one over par 72 as his struggles continued.

Harrington, who lost in a play-off against Vijay Singh in Malaysia last week, also struggled for nine holes after starting on the 10th he chipped in for an eagle on the 15th but then bogeyed the next after a poor chip.

"You could have kicked it closer," said 29-year-old Dubliner Harrington, who was only one under par through the turn. "I was probably trying too hard.

"After last week I had a lot of expectations and I was putting myself under pressure.

"I was not making the birdies and getting a bit down on myself, but after nine holes I said to myself there are another 63 to go, let's limit the damage today and try and do better the next three rounds."

That damage limitation turned into something special on the inward half as Harrington rolled in seven birdies to come home in 28, his lowest ever score for nine holes.

"The front nine was hard work to shoot one under and the back nine was easy to shoot seven under," the Ryder Cup player added.

"I missed from six feet on the third and from 30 feet on the seventh, but I'm very pleased with that."