Paul McGinley has a battle on his hands to make the cut in the inaugural Hana Bank Vietnam Masters in Hanoi.

The Dubliner, 40, opened with a two over par 74 at the Hanoi Phoenix Golf Resort to finish one shot outside the projected cut mark in his last event of the year.

Swiss Martin Rominger hit a six under par 66 to lead the $500,000 Asian Tour event by a shot from Lin Wen-hong of Chinese Taipei with David Howell struggling after a six over 78.

Howell said: "I hit the ball terribly today. Three bad drives really got me into a lot of trouble. I need to play better if I’m going to be here for the weekend."

Starting on the 10th, McGinley bogeyed his first two holes but hit back with three birdies to get to one under at the turn.

But he limped home in three over par 39, dropping shots at four of his first five holes on the back nine before grabbing a birdie at his 15th.