OBERWALTERSDORF, Austria -- Martin Wiegele shot 7-under 64 Friday and shared the lead with five others after the rain-delayed opening round of the Bank Austria Open on the European Tour.

Scott Barr, Pelle Edberg, Christian Nilsson, Gary Murphy and Jeev Milkha Singh also shot 64 at the tournament, reduced to 54 holes after rain washed out play Thursday.

Wiegele eagled the par-5 15th hole to take the lead, but finished with two straight bogeys.

"Until then, it was a dream round," he said. "A shame that my finish wasn't perfect."

Paul Lawrie shot 68, Michael Campbell shot 69 and Darren Clark 70. Defending champion Richard Green shot 71.

Heavy rain was forecast for the weekend. Another major disruption to play could see the $2.2 million event shortened further, so Murphy was delighted to get off to a flying start. He admits his mind wanders to "stupid stuff" on the golf course, but he will have to concentrate for just 36 more holes to claim his first European Tour title.

"It's probably going to be a sprint this week so a 64 is a great start," said Murphy, whose best performance in more than 200 European Tour events was third in the Irish Open three weeks ago. "I played well and putted really nicely. The greens are perfect so there are no excuses.

"I think I concentrated a lot better in Ireland because I wanted to do well at home," he explained. "My biggest weakness is concentration, not thinking about stupid stuff and going home and having a few pints with the lads.

"You are out there for five hours so your mind wanders. The mental side of it is the hardest part of the game," he added. "You often hear guys who win a tournament saying they are exhausted, and I think it's mental exhaustion."

Irish golfers have enjoyed plenty of success this season with victories for Damien McGrane, Peter Lawrie and Darren Clarke, and Murphy admits the success of Lawrie and McGrane in particular gives him extra cause for optimism.

"In theory it should give me more self-belief," added the 35-year-old from Kilkenny. "It's easy to say if your mates win then I should win, but it doesn't work like that. It has probably raised the goals. The guys are way up the Order of Merit and I am down the Order of Merit, so the yardstick has probably increased."

For the second year in succession, pre-tournament favourite Clarke was caught in a passing downpour on the 18th hole, but this time managed a birdie 4 rather than a bogey 6.

However, that was still only good enough for his 1-under 70 and the Ulsterman headed straight to the driving range after his round.

Wiegele, who won the Tour qualifying school last November, was 9 under with three to play and had an outside chance for an historic round of 59, the first sub-60 score ever on the European Tour. However, bad drives at the seventh and eighth resulted in bogeys and the 29-year-old had to hole a good putt from five feet on the last for par.

"I didn't think about a 59, I was just taking it shot by shot and then the difficult seventh hole came up and I blocked my tee shot," explained Wiegele. "I did the same at the next and it nearly went in the water so I was happy to finish with a 64."

Former Volvo Masters winner Singh, the son of a former Olympic sprinter known as the "flying Sikh," has been second twice this season and was 10th in the Wales Open on Sunday.

"I've been knocking on the door and it's got to open," he said.

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