GOLF/Malaysia Open:Star players Darren Clarke, Michael Campbell and Lee Westwood will have some work to do today as they look to make the cut in the European Tour Malaysia Open in Kuala Lumpur.

Clarke shot a two-over-par 74 in yesterday's first round while Campbell and Westwood both carded 75s as England's Robert Rock was relishing the prospect of extending a rare stay on top of a leaderboard, after shooting a six-under-par 66 to take pole position.

Rock's impressive showing in the first round at the Saujana Golf and Country Club's Palm course helped him finish the day a stroke ahead of India's SSP Chowrasia.

Rafael Echenique of Argentina, Kane Webber of Australia and American Edward Loar are tied for third place on four under.

England's Mark Foster, meanwhile, finished the day amongst a group of five players, including 2002 winner Alistair Forsyth of Scotland, a further shot behind.

Damien McGrane is best of the Irish after a two-under-par 70 with Graeme McDowell on level par 72. Peter Lawrie is on the same mark as Clarke while Gary Murphy posted a three-over-par 75.

Clarke dropped three shots in four holes from the fifth in a first nine of 39 but showed some improvement on the homeward journey of one-under-par 35 that included birdies at the 11th, 13th and 18th.

McGrane fired four birdies on his first nine of 34 and a dropped shot at the 10th was cancelled out by a birdie at the 14th in a back-nine of 36.

Rock said: "This is the first time that I have led after any round so that will do for me. Six under is the lowest round I have had since playing the European Tour."

"It was nice to walk up on the ninth and see my name at the top of the leaderboard. It usually comes off quite quickly once it gets on there, so at least it will stay up there overnight."

Starting on the back nine, he birdied the 11th and 12th, gave back a stroke with his only bogey of the day on the 15th, but birdied the next two to reach the turn at three under.

Further birdies followed at the first and fifth before Rock put his eight-iron approach within 12 feet of the pin at the ninth and holed the putt to take the lead.

He is also well positioned to beat his previous best performance on the tour, a share of fourth in the 2003 British Masters.

Putting was the key to Rock's success yesterday afternoon as he made six birdies.

"I had no birdies on the par-fives but played the rest alright," said the Englishman, who holed from 25 feet at the 16th and 15 feet at the first.

"I putted really well and managed to hit some longish irons fairly close.

"My caddie Ryan McGuigan is really good at reading the grain, which is not something I have had a lot of success with in the past. I pretty much went with what he said and they all turned out pretty nicely."

Chowrasia had fired seven birdies and two bogeys in the morning to take the clubhouse lead.

Chowrasia, an eight-time winner on the Indian Tour, is seeking his first victory on the Asian Tour after losing in a play-off to compatriot Jyoti Randhawa at last year's Indian Open.

"I putted really well and played solid. It's a tough course. It's undulating and you don't have many flat lies around but it's a good course and I like it," said the 28-year-old. Echenique and Loar carded four-under 68s in the morning while Webber returned the same score in the afternoon to lie two shots off the lead. Foster and Forsyth were tied for sixth place in a group that includes 2000 Malaysian Open winner Yeh Wei-Tze of Chinese Taipei, a further stroke behind. Two-time winner Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand and Jeev Milkha Singh of India began the tournament with steady but unspectacular one-under 71s while Thomas Bjorn is one over.