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Graeme McDowell was left to rue two closing bogeys but his first round 67 was still good enough to grab a two-shot lead after the first round of the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai.
McDowell who leads the way after a flying start to the day at Sheshan International which saw him play his first 12 holes in seven-under-par.
He dropped two shots in his last six holes though to finish on five-under for the tournament, but that was still two strokes better than the chasing pack of six including Rickie Fowler and Martin Kaymer on three-under.
Starting from the 10th, the Ryder Cup star birdied his opening hole and picked up further shots on the 13th, 14th, 16th and 17th to race to the turn in 31, before birdies at the second and third took him well clear of a star-studded field.
However, the former US Open champion dropped his first shot of the day on the fourth and paid the price for missing his only fairway of the round on the 603-yard eighth hole, a par-five which had so far given up just two birdies.
McDowell said: “Obviously the course played fairly difficult today. The wind direction had switched completely from practice, some of the game plan had switched a little bit and some of the holes were playing pretty long," said McDowell.
Tough
"This is as tough off the tee as I think I've ever seen this golf course.
“Seven under par through 12 holes was a beautiful start, and although I dropped a couple coming in, all in all I’m very, very pleased with five under par on what I thought was a reasonably tricky day."
At five-under-par, McDowell enjoyed a two-shot lead over American trio Fowler, Chris Kirk and Brandt Snedeker, along with South African Tim Clark, Englishman Tommy Fleetwood and fellow Ryder Cup star Kaymer.
"It's a good start and I really enjoy playing here anyway," said Kaymer, who shot a final round of 63 on his way to victory in 2011 and also holds the course record of 62.
"Even when I was at level par today I just kept telling myself, you enjoy the golf course so much, and you will have plenty of birdie chances, so you just need to wait. Fortunately today on the back nine, it turned out well."
A host of big names sit just one shot further back on two-under, with English duo Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood carding rounds of 70 along with Henrik Stenson, Jordan Spieth, Adam Scott and Louis Oosthuizen.
American Dustin Johnson (absent this week) claimed the title 12 months ago with a winning total of 24 under par, but Justin Rose - who was fifth last year - had correctly predicted heavier rough and firmer greens would make scoring more difficult.
Rose, who was fourth in the BMW Masters on Sunday, mixed four birdies with four bogeys for a level par round of 72.
Spain's Miguel Angel Jimenez, who took 13 on the ninth hole during his final round last week, struggled to an opening 78, while FedEx Cup winner Billy Horschel managed just one birdie in a round of 80.