Nicholas Fung and Eunshin Park sat at the top of a congested leaderboard as day one of the Rocco Forte Sicilian Open got under way at Verdura Golf Club.
The duo turned in 32 to sit a shot ahead of Spaniard Pedro Oriol, with a group of ten players then at two under.
Malaysian Fung was bogey-free on the front nine, making gains on the second, third, seventh and ninth, while South Korea’s Park - making his first European Tour appearance since 2011 - started on the 11th and made birdies on the 12th, 13th, 17th and first.
Oriol was playing alongside Park and he was also bogey-free, with birdies on the 12th, 17th and first.
There was then a large English presence two shots off the lead with Marcus Armitage, Laurie Canter, Nathan Kimsey, Andy Sullivan and Steve Webster all at two under.
The Danes were also going well with Lucas Bjerregaard and Jeff Winther in that group alongside Austrian Mathias Schwab, South Africa’s Haydn Porteous and Chilean Mark Tullo.
