Jamie Donaldson carded a superb 10-under par 62 to hold a four stroke lead after the first round of the BMW Masters.
Donaldson: Four shot lead
In a tournament in which Europe's Ryder Cup stars were reunited, it was Donaldson who stole the limelight from some of his more illustrious competitors.
The Welshman birdied an incredible 10 of the first 16 holes at the Lake Malaren Golf Club to take a handsome first round lead.
"It was one of those rounds where you hit every shot where you want to and every putt where you want to," Donaldson told europeantour.com.
"The course suits me. The fairways are quite generous and if you miss the bunkers you can play aggressive golf.
"It's an awesome field, so I need to keep playing like that to stay ahead of them."
Four shots back of Donaldson sit Peter Hanson and Francesco Molinari who shot rounds of 66.
Molinari managed a bogey-free round but was unable to get on a hot streak quite like the one Donaldson found himself on.
A further shot back on five-under, Michael Hoey finds himself in distinguished company with world number one Rory McIlroy and Ryder Cup skipper Jose Maria Olazabal also shooting 67s.
McIlroy was content after his round although he admitted he hadn't produced anything that was worth talking too much about.
"It was okay," said the man from Northern Ireland. "I didn't feel I did anything spectacularly out there. I just played some solid golf.
"The targets on this golf course are big... big fairway, big greens so you're going to give yourself plenty of chances out there.
"It was a good, solid round of golf."
There is a six-man group on four-under that includes Justin Rose (McIlroy's closest competitor in the Race for Dubai), Martin Kaymer and Louis Oosthuizen.
Luke Donald and Lee Westwood, ranked third and fourth in the world respectively, managed mediocre rounds of two-under par.
golf365.com