Born to a Scottish father and Malaysian mother, the 35-year-old stumbled with a double bogey at the 5th, but bounced back with eight birdies against three bogeys to dominate the par-71, 6,827-yard course which features several fairways that are notoriously steep and narrow.

"It's one of the courses you have to be patient on. You have to wait until you can hit birdies and try to get out of trouble," said Steel, who lives in Alabama.

In fact the Malaysian, with three pro titles under his belt including the 1997 Boise Open and 2002 Alabama Open, arrived on the island unfit and suffering from diarrhoea.

"When I got here, I wasn't sure if I was going to be okay as it's a tough course to play on," he said. "But today, I felt a bit better and I just tried to stay out of trouble.

"You know what they say, beware the injured golfer," added Steel, who last month hit a hole-in-one in the Maekyung Open, South Korea, which earned him a BMW 7 series.

Despite a sluggish start at the 10th where he three-putted for a bogey, the Malaysian's iron play was strong and he had four straight birdies from the 6th to the 9th.

"I guess I was still asleep," said Steel of his opening hole blemish. "But I got into a rhythm and had good distance control with my shots. I played alright except for the double on the fifth hole when I got into the jungle.

"But after that it clicked at the end and I also missed an eagle putt on my last hole from five feet."

Trailing one shot behind was local 40-year-old Prayad Marksaeng, who handled the back nine in style with five birdies at the 10th-11th, 14th, 15th and 16th. The Thai hope, whose best run on the Asian circuit was a third in Sanya, China, in March, benefited from a series of fine putts.

"I'm hitting new Calloway irons and I'm feeling good right now. But there were some hiccups on the back nine which was disappointing when you were playing well," said Prayad about the congestion from the 10th to 19th holes where players spent longer than usual.

Even Steel was bothered by the delays.

"I had to spend five hours to complete, three hours on the back nine. Actually, my legs are not 100 per cent since last week, but I played well and didn't feel tired," said Steel.

Prayad has a shot at winning a home title here but there was concern about the leg injury he picked up during practice on Monday.

"I was running down to the second hole and hurt my leg," he said. "I guess I have to be more careful in the next three rounds."

Lerpong Amsa-ngiam

The Nation

Koh Samui