Rory McIlroy, chasing a place in the world's top 50, made a solid if unspectacular start to the UBS Hong Kong Open today after a level par opening round of 70. The 19-year-old trails China's Liang Wen-chong and South African Richard Sterne by six shots.

Paul McGinley, Graeme McDowell and Gareth Maybin all finished on one-over at the Hong Kong Golf Club.

Liang, bidding to become the first Asian player to win the event in a decade, carded a six-under-par 64 and would have taken the outright lead but for a bogey on the ninth, his final hole.

After seven birdies Liang reached the green on the par-four ninth in two but then three-putted for a bogey.

"My performance today was good but there are still three days left," said Liang. "My putting feels good and I have been very patient in taking every hole step by step."

Sterne, who carded eight birdies and two bogeys, has not won on the European Tour since the 2008 Joburg Open and is hoping to produce a consistent performance to give himself a chance on Sunday.

"I had a pretty good start and I just kept going," said Sterne. "From the Masters on I have really struggled but I am still working on a few things. I am not all that comfortable, there are a couple of good things here and there but I have just been very erratic to be honest."

Despite a field which contains six major champions it was Asian golfers who dominated the day as Chinese Taipei's Lin Wen-tang and Frankie Minoza of the Philippines finished tied for third at five-under.

England's Oliver Wilson, who lost out in a play-off to Sergio Garcia at the HSBC Champions recently, sank a birdie putt from eight feet on the 18th to ensure he is within touch of the leaders at four-under.

Two-time major winner John Daly enjoyed a solid round with a two-under-par 68 to lie four shots off the lead.

"I felt like I putted well," said the 42-year-old. "I made five or six one putts, meaning I hit a lot of greens. I am pretty happy with that."

Playing in his first European Tour event for over a year, Nick Faldo reeled off three successive birdies from the second but three bogeys and a double bogey on the par-three eighth meant the 51-year-old finished two over par.

Defending champion Miguel Angel Jimenez will need to improve tomorrow after a disappointing round in which the Spaniard managed just two birdies and three bogeys to finish one-over.

Collated Scores
(Irish and Gbr unless stated, Irishin bold)

64Wen-chong Liang (Chn), Richard Sterne (Rsa)

65Frankie Minoza (Phi), Wen-Tang Lin (Tai)

66Francesco Molinari (Ita), Ter-Chang Wang (Tpe), Oliver Wilson, Chawalit Plaphol (Tha)

67Peter Hanson (Swe), Mikko Ilonen (Fin), Rick Kulacz (Aus), Artemio-hiromasa Murakami (Phi), Chinarat Phadungsil (Tha), Oliver Fisher, Marcus Fraser (Aus)

68Inn-choon Hwang (Kor), Soren Kjeldsen (Den), Wen Teh Lu (Tpe), Johan Edfors (Swe), John Daly (USA), Rahil Gangjee (Ind), Chapchai Nirat (Tha), Darren Beck (Aus), Colin Montgomerie, Scott Drummond, Chris Rodgers, Marcus Both (Aus), Iain Steel (Mal), David Dixon, Angelo Que (Phi), Gavin Flint (Aus)

69Christian Cevaer (Fra), Bernhard Langer (Ger), Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra), Young-Woo Nam (Kor), Pelle Edberg (Swe), Ben Leong (Mal), David Frost (Rsa), Pablo Larrazabal (Spa), Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa), Daniel Vancsik (Arg), Taco Remkes (Ned), Paul Lawrie, Wook-Soon Kang (Kor), Joong Kyung Mo (Kor), Bradley Dredge

70Wei Chih Lu (Tha), Yasin Ali, Martin Erlandsson (Swe), Roderick De lacy Staunton (Hkg), Simon Griffiths, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha), Kyung-Tae Kim (Kor), Anthony Kang (USA), Lee Slattery, Juvic Pagunsan (Phi), Scott Hend (Aus), Rory McIlroy, Shun yat jason Hak (Hkg), Jong Yul Suk (Kor), Antonio Lascuna (Phi), Airil Rizman (Mal), Jarmo Sandelin (Swe), David Horsey, Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha), Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa), Mark Brown (USA), Mardan Mamat (Sin), Tony Carolan (Aus), Amandeep Johl (Ind), David Bransdon (Aus), Peter O'Malley (Aus)

71Anders Hansen (Den), Unho Park (Aus), Simon Dyson, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa), Daniel Chopra (Swe), Scott Barr (Aus), Hendrik Buhrmann (Rsa), Niclas Fasth (Swe), Markus Brier (Aut), Sam Little, Keng-chi Lin (Tai), Sattaya Supupramai (Tha), Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind), Gaurav Ghei (Ind), Rory Sabbatini (Rsa), Michael Campbell (Nzl), Graeme McDowell, Gareth Maybin, Phillip Price, Scott Strange (Aus), David Lynn, Martin Rominger (Swi), Gary Simpson (Aus), Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa), Gregory Bourdy (Fra), Paul McGinley, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind)

72Nick Faldo, Zaw Moe (Kor), Mars Pucay (Phi), Anthony Wall, Michael Jonzon (Swe), Gregory Havret (Fra), Shiv Kapur (Ind), David Gleeson (Aus), Paul Waring, Lian-Wei Zhang (Chn), Chih-bing Lam (Sin), Paul Broadhurst, Taichiro Kiyota  (Jpn), Phillip Archer, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra), Mark Foster, Simon Hurd

73Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den), Robert Rock, Stephen Scahill (Nzl), Jean Van de Velde (Fra), Keith Horne (Rsa), Miles Tunnicliff, Adam Blyth (Aus), Digvijay Singh (Ind)

74Steve Webster, Marcel Siem (Ger), Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind), Adam Groom (Aus), Simon Wakefield, Simon Khan, Prom Meesawat (Tha), Thammanoon Srirot (Tha), Arjun Atwal (Ind), Steven Lam (Hkg), David Freeman (Hkg)

75Sung Lee (Kor), Jamie Donaldson, Matthew McBain (Aus)

76Paul Riley, Richard Lee (Can)

78Derek Fung (Hkg), James Stewart, Emanuele Canonica (Ita)

79Jovick Lee (Hkg)