Leona Maguire and Stephanie Meadow off early pace at Maybank Championship in Kuala Lumpur

Leona Maguire and Stephanie Meadow are off the early pace after the opening round at the Maybank Championship in Kuala Lumpur, Malayisa.

Meadow is six shots off the lead held by Thailand's Thidapa Suwannapura on three under in a tie for 22nd after a 69, while Maguire is a two strokes further back, tied for 52nd, after a 71.

Meadow enjoyed a strong start, with a bogey-free front nine featuring a quartet of birdies on the first, third, sixth and eighth holes.

But the back nine was a much more mixed bag with the biggest setback coming with a double bogey on the par-4 12th before she dropped another shot on the next hole.

However, that three-over run was sandwiched by birdies on the 10th and 14th to mitigate the damage.

Maguire also dropped a shot on 12, which was one of three bogeys for the Cavan woman including on two and 10.

But the two-time winner on the LPGA Tour birdied consecutively on four and five, as well as on nine and 13, to go into Friday's second round under par.

LEADERBOARD

At the top of the leaderboard, Suwannapura's 63 has her one shot clear of Australia's Hannah Green.

One shot further back on seven under are Gina Kim, Grace Kim, Linn Grant, Peiyun Chien and Rose Zhang.