Dougherty misses 59 but leads Malaysian Open

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KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- England's Nick Dougherty birdied 10 of his first 13 holes in a bid for the first 59 in European Tour history, then parred the final five for a 10-under 62 -- good enough for the first-round lead Thursday in the Malaysian Open.

He was two shots ahead of Simon Dyson and Marcus Fraser, who both shot 8-under 64s on a day of low scoring.

Dougherty had a string of seven straight birdies -- the last three holes on the back nine and first four on the front -- on the 6,972-yard Kota Permai course in the event sanctioned by the European Tour and Asian Tour.

Malaysia's Danny Chia was among four players tied at 7-under 65, along with South Africa's Keith Horne, Denmark's Soren Kjeldsen and Argentina's Daniel Vancsik.

New Zealand's Mark Brown, coming off consecutive victories in India in the Asian Tour's SAIL Open and the co-sanctioned Johnnie Walker Classic, matched Sweden's Peter Hedblom, the winner last year at Saujana, with a 66.

Former U.S. Open champion Michael Campbell recorded three double-bogeys and one triple-bogey on his way to a humbling 12-over 84 that put the New Zealander 6 shots off the next worst player.

Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke shot a 69 on Thursday.