Malaysia's Gavin Kyle Green got off to a positive start with a decent one-under-par 71 in the opening round of the 2016 CIMB Classic.

The 22-year-old coloured his scorecard with one eagle, four birdies and five bogeys to lie tied 45th in the 78-player field.

"I got off to a little shaky start but I kind of recovered well. Kept myself in play but I just missed a bunch of putts out there. I misread them and I think a bit of the jetlag kicked in at the end.

"Under-par is always good but with no practice round, it's okay. Still got three more days. I'll just stay positive and we'll move on," said Green, when met after completing his round at TPC Kuala Lumpur.

The Malaysian Olympian just arrived home on Tuesday after his PGA Tour debut at the Safeway Classic last week.

Green noted that he needed to improve his score on the par-three holes.

"I struggled a little bit, misclubbed a couple and caught the wind a little bit on another, but it's okay. I'll get it tomorrow," he said.

Meanwhile, Malaysia's top ranked player, Danny Chia had a frustrating round.

His driver woes continued to haunt him after he completed the opening round with a five-over-par 77.

"My driving has been a sore point over the last couple of weeks and there was no respite today. I'm struggling to find the center of the clubface and that translates to fewer fairways hit.

"Maybe I need to focus on my rhythm or tempo but I'm not feeling confident off the tees at the moment," said Chia. -- Bernama