Ireland's Gary Murphy is four shots off KJ Choi's Hong Kong Open lead but could have been closer had he not bogeyed the last in the first round at the $2.25 million co-sanctioned event at Fanling.

The 35-year-old from Kilkenny headed onto the last at five-under-par after carding just one bogey against six birdies at a humid Hong Kong Golf Club but, after pushing his tee shot into the trees, was forced to settle for a bogey five and a first round four-under-par 66.

Choi dropped just one shot in a round that saw nine birdies - five in a row on the back nine - on his way to a 62.

Welshman Garry Houston trails Choi by just one stroke, while Swedish duo Robert Karlsson and Fredrik Andersson are a further stroke behind him.

Murphy's fellow Irishmen Graeme McDowell and Paul McGinley are three under and two under respectively.

Murphy has enjoyed a recent run of form to finish his 2007 European Tour season on a high after a nine-under tied for 23 finish at the Dunhill Links Championship while also firing a four-under-par 66 in the first round of last month's Mallorca Masters.

"It was a good days work, I played lovely," he said. "I got off to a good steady start after getting pars at the first two before getting a good birdie at three with a three iron onto the green.

"I chipped in on four from short and then made a good birdie at eight to get to three under, but I hit a bad second shot on nine to drop a shot. But two-under at the turn was a steady start.

"I holed a couple of nice putts coming in, including a 40 footer on 11 and a 25 footer on 15 to get to five-under. But then at 18 I pushed the driver right and couldn't get up and down, but overall a good start.

"It's a good start to the four days, the scoring here over the first few days is quite sharp but the course then dries out, it was even drying out while we were out there, which makes scoring difficult especially on the front nine, so 66 is very pleasing."

Glasgow-born Barry Hume shot a five-under-par 65 to join former champion Miguel Angel Jimenez three off the lead.

Hume is battling to save his Asian Tour card with just three events remaining after Hong Kong and an explosive front nine of six birdies in seven holes with just one bogey helped his cause.

He played the back nine in level par after a bogey at the 17th cancelled out his birdie at 12.

"I need a big finish somewhere along the way, but I've given up thinking about it as I've missed my chance in the big events," said Hume, who is currently 111th on the Order of Merit and need to finish in the top-60 to receive full exemption status.

"It was a good start today and if I can stay in the top 10 all week I'll be delighted if I can keep the ball in the fairway, which I haven't been doing all year."

Ryder Cup captain Nick Faldo birdied the last to join 2000 Hong Kong Open champion Simon Dyson at two-under-par, while Northern Ireland rookie Rory McIlroy joins compatriot Damien McGrane, England's Yasin Ali, two-time US Open champion Retief Goosen and former Masters champion Mike Weir at one under.