Lam Chih Bing is trying to make amends from his final round collapse at the Mercedes-Benz Masters Singapore. His solid 67 at the first round of the Barclays Singapore Open has seen him perched on the top of the leaderboard in the middle of the first round. Lightning and rain halted the first round of this year's Major of Asia with the afternoon flights teeing off two hours later than scheduled.

The delay didn't dampen Lam's moment for sure. His single bogey on the long, difficult par-4 5th was the only blemish on an otherwise stellar scorecard. Birdies on the 10th, 15th, 16th and 18th saw the long-hitting Singaporean enter the clubhouse with a 4-under round, and a one-shot lead over Marcus Both.

The following is a transcript of Lam's interview after the first round:

Q: You played a round of 67. What are your thoughts?

A: Just feel good to be here right now, I guess I played very solidly today and hit quite a number of greens and holed some good putts, and I’m very thrilled to be on top of the leader board right now.

Q: Great back nine, your front nine, talk us through that.

A: Started a very good birdie on the first, made a 25-footer and a bunch of solid putts coming in and I think the 6th hole and the 15th hole, that’s a pretty tough hole and I hit a really good shot into about 2 feet, made birdie there. The next hit got to about 5 feet and made another 12-footer on the 18th hole.

Q: Did the rain delay affect you much? How was that for you?

A: It’s going very well out there and I was a little bit disappointed when the rain came because I really wanted to stay out there and complete the round. I had no clue how tough it was playing when I came in then I realized I had a 3-stroke lead and that made the last 5 holes even more difficult.

Q: Did you expect that you would have such a good start?

A: Probably not but I’ve been playing pretty good recently and to go and play like I did today, I’m just very satisfied. There are still 3 more days to go but I’m very happy with the way I played today.

Q: Have you been practicing at this course?

A: Little bit, this is my seventh straight tournament so I haven’t really been out here that much.

Q: All the big names are not doing too well.

A: I think it’s pretty tough out there. I was very surprised to see where the pins were today. We saw a lot of tough pins and pins that we normally see on Sunday and not on Thursday.

Q: During the interim, what were you doing? Warming up?

A: I was just chatting with my friends at the players lounge.

Q: Any bets going with anyone?

A: There’s always a bet.

Q: Will there be anymore pressure going into tomorrow’s game?

A: You know what, it’s just another tournament for me and even though it’s our national open and it’s the biggest tournament in the Asian Tour, I still got to go out there and do my job no matter what so it’s just going to be another day at the office tomorrow.

Q: I don’t remember the last time a Singaporean actually won this tournament. Do you have any idea why?

A: I don’t think it’s ever happened before. I’m not even going to think about this, it’s such a long way to go.

Q: Last week you said you had one of your best ball-striking rounds in your career, so what’s different right now?

A: I’ve been working very hard with Andrew and I think I’m slowly starting to see everything come together. It’s not quite there yet but I think I just feel like I’m getting better all the time, there are still quite some ways to go but even on the range, I can see a lot of improvement in my ball-striking.

Q: Despite your good performance, what do you need to do, do you still need to make any changes?

A: I think main thing right now is just not to get too excited and just treat this as another tournament. It might be a bit tough but that’s what I’m going to try to do.

Q: Are you getting used to the new putter yet? Why did you change it after 6 years?

A: It just wasn’t working so it was time to end that relationship.

Q: What happened at the bogey on the 5th?

A: I think I just hit a really bad drive there, hit it about 120 yards off the tee. In the end I think it was a pretty good bogey, I had a 20-footer for par and then I came back in and I hit to sit over that putt for about 2 hours. I went back out and made it but it was a bad drive. It was right at the part when the wind started howling right before we came in so that made it a little bit more tricky I guess.

Q: Can you say your mental side of the game has improved, just not to get too excited, kind of relax and not get frustrated too?

A: I’ve been working on that so we’ll see how it goes the next few days.

Q: You said it’s important not to get too excited, it must be difficult with all the top players like Phil Mickelson and Padraig Harrington, how do you cope?

A: Even though I haven’t really been here before, on top of the leader board, but I’ve been a pro 8 years, played in a couple of British Opens, I think that would really help in a week like this week,

Q: What was your best finish at Singapore Open?

A: I think I finished 33rd a couple of years back.

Q: When was the first time you played at the Singapore Open? Was it as an amateur?

A: I think the first time I played, I was an amateur, probably back in ’97.

Q: Does familiarity with the course help a lot?

A: I think being familiar with the golf course is a little bit overrated. I think at the end of the day you still have to go out and police your shots. I think it does help being at home, sleeping on my own bed and having the crowd behind me. I think that’s definitely a boost.

Q: Last week you squandered a 4-shot lead, does that play back in your mind?

A: Not really, like I said, last week, I had no expectations and at the end of the day I was pretty happy finishing second and piecing together three very good rounds although I didn’t quite get the job done on the last day. It’s just a learning experience and at the end of the day I think I looked back at a lot of positives last week, definitely last week wouldn’t affect anything.

Q: Is Serapong one of your favourite courses? You qualified for the British Open on this course.

A: I think it’s one of the best courses we’ve played all year. It’s probably the best course we’ve played all year on the Asian Tour and it will definitely rank up there as one of my favourites because it’s just such a good demanding golf course.

Q: What are some of the lessons you drew from last week’s experience that you can apply here?

A: Like I said, every tournament is different. Every tournament I play I just learn something from it. It’s not necessary that what I do this week is a reflection of what I did last week. It’s just the experience I gained last week, I would just keep it somewhere deep down.

Q: What was going through your mind every time you passed the giant leader board and see your name up there?

A: Very luckily I didn’t see my name on top of the leader board until I came in for the rain delay, so that might have helped a little bit.

Q: Coming in the final few holes, you realized you were in the lead. Was there a lot of pressure? What went through your mind?

A: Not that much changed, I knew what position I was in but the thought process didn’t really change that much. I just tried to hit fairways and greens like I’ve been trying to all day.

Q: What are your goals, now that your on the top of the leader board and likely to remain until the end of the day, how have they changed?

A: My main goal right now is still to piece together four solid rounds. Obviously I want to do well this week. I think being in this position, it’s important not to get ahead of myself and just still go out and play three more solid rounds.

Q: Can you remember the last time you pieced together four solid rounds?

A: Done that a few times, probably the last time I would say was the Asean Tour event in Indonesia in May. (-17)

Q: We are expecting rain over the next few days, will that be good for you?

A: I think it shouldn’t affect how we play too much. As a golfer you just have to accept the elements. I think it depends on a little bit a luck because this afternoon the guys who go out might have perfect conditions but I think being in Singapore so much we’re just kind of used to the rain.

Q: What is the key to hitting a lot of fairways? I think you almost hit every fairway.

A: I hit a lot of fairways today, hit a lot of greens.

Q: I think in the Singapore Masters a couple of years back, your first shot of your tournament, you topped it. How have you matured since then?

A: Thanks for reminding me! Like I said, I just feel myself improving all the time so we’ll see how it goes the next few days.