Scott Jamieson had mounted a rousing early charge in the Maybank Malaysian Open before a thunderstorm brought his first round to a premature halt.
While Luke Donald, the world No.3, struggled in the heat of Kuala Lumpur and trudged in with a two-over-par 74, Jamieson had powered up the order after covering his opening 10 holes in six-under before the suspension.
Despite a bogey on the first, Jamieson, who could still force his way into next month's Masters field, responded in fine style and reeled off birdies at the second, third, fifth, seventh and ninth, before bolstering his assault on the leaders with an eagle-3 on the 10th.
Thailand's Kiradech Aphi-barnrat had the clubhouse lead with a seven-under 65 with Anders Hansen, Edoardo Molinari and Gregory Bourdy all lurking a shot behind after rounds of 66.
Donald, who only arrived in the Far East on Tuesday after finishing fourth in the Tampa Bay Championship in America last Sunday, refused to use jet-lag as an excuse for his sluggish start.
"I slept pretty well the last two nights and felt pretty good, it was just a case of not being quite on today," said the Englishman.
"It was one of those frustrating rounds where I got very little momentum going."
Alastair Forsyth, invited back to Malaysia as a past champion, was making good progress at two-under through eight holes while Stephen Gallacher, who like Jamieson has an outside chance of qualifying for the Masters, finished with a 71.
David Drysdale, sixth in India last weekend, was six-over through 13 holes when play was abandoned.
Molinari, who changed coach in December after missing three months following wrist surgery, has not made a cut in five events this season, but carded eight birdies and two bogeys in his round.
"It was a good round of golf finally," said Molinari, who is now coached by Sean Foley, who works with Tiger Woods and Justin Rose among others. "Sean is making big changes but I needed them because of the way I played last year.
"I like what Sean says, I've a lot more knowledge about what I'm doing on the course and when I miss a shot, I know how to fix it. Sean speaks a lot of sense about golf and right now he's definitely the most knowledgeable coach in golf."
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