Khrongpha stands tall at Thailand Golf Championship

Thailand's Thanyakon Khrongpha, Australia's Marcus Fraser, Canada's Richard T. Lee and Chinese Taipei's Lu Wei-chih stole the early limelight by returning with matching three-under-par 69s to share the first round lead at the Thailand Golf Championship here Thursday.

Lee Westwood of England, winner of the Thailand Golf Championship in 2011, trailed by one shot in tied fifth place alongside Scott Hend of Australia and Tirawat Kaewsiribandit of Thailand at the Amata Spring Country Club.

Title holder Sergio Garcia of Spain and Martin Kaymer of Germany fired identical 71s for tied eighth place alongside Order of Merit leader David Lipsky of the United States and Anirban Lahiri of India at the $1 million Asian Tour event.

The talented Khrongpha was happy with his Thursday's performance and said he will try to achieve consistency.

"I hit good drives and putted very well. I must continue to do that. I wasn't worried about my score because the conditions were tough. I like the greens here. I know where the slopes are and I don't find it tough to putt on these greens," he said in a release.