Lee Westwood fired eight birdies to surge to the first-round lead at the Malaysian Open on Thursday with a seven-under-par 65, staying sharp after a solid performance at last week's Masters.

Nicolas Colsaerts of Belgium was just a stroke back on 66 after matching the Englishman's birdie count but falling short due to a pair of bogeys.

Westwood, who managed a seventh-place finish at the Masters on Sunday, stumbled out of the blocks in Malaysia with a bogey on his first hole of the day.

But he kept a clean card the rest of the way by sinking some long putts and ending the day with three straight birdies.

Michael Hoey of Northern Ireland and Ricardo Santos of Portugal were two shots back from Westwood at the $2.75 million event, jointly sanctioned by the Asian Tour and the European Tour.