China's Liang Wenchong lived up to his billing as pre-tournament favorite by taking the first-round lead in the US$1million Luxehills Chengdu Open. The 31-year-old fired a course record eight-under-par 64 in the opening event of the OneAsia season. Choi Ho-sung of South Korea returned a 65 while U.S.-born South Korean David Oh fired a 66 at Luxehills International Country Club. Liang registered a commanding victory at OneAsia's Midea China Classic on home soil last year and he is once again revelling playing in front of his mainland fans. He made eight birdies in total with six coming on the outward half. 'Sometimes when you make a couple of birdies in a row, you then tense up and make some mistakes. Today I just kept making birdie after birdie,' said Liang. 'I looked at the leader board after nine holes and I saw I was in a share of the lead. I realized that there was no point in pushing too hard and just focused on playing some steady golf.' Liang was ranked Asia's number one golfer in 2007, the year he claimed the Singapore Masters, and he also triumphed in the 2008 Hero Honda Indian Open. Choi, who led the Volvo China Open at the halfway mark last season on OneAsia, made his move up the leader board thanks to a new putter. Said the 36-year-old: 'In my hotel room last night I was practising with a new putter. It felt very good and so I used it today for the first time and I made a lot of putts. There are three more days to go. I will try and keep working hard.' Oh was born and raised in Los Angeles but since gaining his Korean Tour card in 2007 he has played regularly in Asia. 'OneAsia is great. To have another place with such a high level of competition is definitely good for golf and Asia. It is another venue, builds more players and makes the game of golf more accessible. I think OneAsia is awesome,' said the 30-year- old. Oh's best finish as a professional is equal third at the 2006 Korean Open, where South Korean Yang Yong-eun, winner of last year's US PGA Championship, triumphed. Australians Terry Pilkadaris, Scott Arnold and Ashley Hall, South Korean Kim Bio and Liao Guiming of China all returned 67. Pilkadaris is competing this week despite facing a fine from the Asian Tour for not getting an official release. 'I have to play well this week. I am going to cop a US$5,000 fine from the Asian Tour. It is going to be an expensive week as I brought my family with me. I think we worked out this week is going to cost about US$14,000 all up,' said Pilkadaris. He is being helped by having his wife Monique, a psychologist, caddie for him. 'I think I make 80 per cent of my money when she (Monique) is on the bag. You're always going to be in good hands when you have a psychologist on the bag,' added the Australian. Australian Scott Strange, winner of last year's OneAsia Order of Merit title, carded a 71 along with Japanese star Shigeki Maruyama. 