Padraig Harrington fired a sparkling inward nine of seven-under-par 28 yesterday to share the first-round lead in the Singapore Masters.

The 29-year-old was beaten by Fijian Vijay Singh in a playoff for the Malaysian Open last Sunday, but is threatening to make amends for that loss this week at the Singapore Island Country Club after opening with an eight-under-par 63 - just one off the course record.

He shares the lead with Englishman Warren Bennett in the $850,000 event which is being joint sanctioned by the European and Asian PGA Tours.

Singh celebrated his 38th birthday by carding a 64 along with Filipino number one Frankie Minoza, Dutchman Maarten Lafeber and England's Anthony Wall.

Colin Montgomerie, who won the Ericsson Masters at the weekend in Australia, started well with a 66 along with Korea's Anthong Kang, who triumphed in the Myanmar Open three weeks ago.

Harrington, who started his round on the back nine before playing a remarkable front side, admitted that he was slow to get going as the emotions from four days ago were still running high. He made the turn in one under before unleashing seven birdies in nine holes.

"I'm very pleased with that. It was a strange round. I was probably trying too hard on the front nine (back nine on the course) and after last week I had a lot of expectations.

"I felt things weren't going for me. I was putting myself under pressure. I wasn't making the birdies and was getting a bit down on myself," he said.

"Through nine holes I was saying, `hold on, there are another 63 holes to go. Let's limit the damage today and see if we can do better over the next three rounds.' Obviously, I relaxed a bit on the back nine.

"I wasn't getting down on myself on the back nine. I was doing a lot of talking with my caddie. Compared to the front nine, the back nine was blissful.

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

Injury plagued Bennett was thrilled to be leading after having endured a terrible time over the past few seasons.

After winning his first European Tour title, the Scottish PGA Championship in 1999, he suffered from a bout of pneumonia and then went down with a recurring neck problem. He didn't touch a golf club for six months.

Seven-time European Tour Order of Merit winner Montgomerie stayed close to the lead with three birdies and an eagle.

He started brilliantly with three birdies in the first four holes, but could not maintain the momentum.