Thomas Pieters continued his love affair with Albatross Golf Resort as he equalled the course record to take a share of the first-round lead at the D+D Real Czech Masters.
Pieters was a winner at this event in 2015 before finishing second the following year and his eight under par 64 saw him back at the top of the leaderboard alongside two-time Major Championship winner John Daly, England's Callum Tarren and Malaysian Gavin Green.
Reigning Road to Oman champion Tapio Pulkkanen was in the group a shot behind alongside Spaniard Nacho Elvira, Italian Andrea Pavan, England's Lee Slattery and Dane Jeff Winther.
The four leaders all had their rounds interrupted by a storm delay of an hour and 15 minutes in the afternoon but showed no signs of distraction as they joined Scott Jamieson, Mikael Lundberg and Paul Peterson in the history books.
Belgian Pieters followed his runner-up finish in Prague with a win the following week as he earned himself a Captain's Pick for the Ryder Cup two years ago and he will be hoping to do the same over the next fortnight.
For Daly, 52, Thursday's round was his best European Tour effort since the final round of the 2009 UBS Hong Kong Open.
Tarren - currently second in the Rankings on the PGA Tour-China - was playing just his second European Tour event, while Green is the reigning Asian Tour Order of Merit winner.
On a day of very low scoring in the Czech capital, Elvira, Pavan, Winther and Slattery set the morning target but the low scores just kept on coming in the afternoon.
Pieters birdied the first, second, sixth, eighth and tenth before the hooter sounded to bring the players off but two putts from the fringe on the par five 12th after the resumption had him within one of the lead.
A lovely approach into the 14th put him in a seven-way tie for the lead and another birdie on the next made him the first man in the clubhouse at eight under.
“I drove it pretty well and I putted really well,” he said. “I love it. It really suits my eye off the tee and it's just a matter of making the putts over the rest of the week if I keep hitting it like that.
“I'd rather go one better here and then do the same next week but I'm going to worry about tomorrow first and then Saturday, a day at a time.”
American Daly started his round with three birdies and added further gains on the sixth and ninth to turn in 31 before the storms came. A birdie on the 11th was followed by another on the 12th after a stunning second to six feet and a closing birdie moved him into a share of the lead.
“It's been one of those years where I've been hitting it really good, I've just been injured and having to pull out,” he said. “I don't feel great but I got around today and I just played solid golf and it's great. It feels good.
“It was just one of those days where the yardages into the greens were so perfect it made it a little easier. It was a very comfortable swinging round today and if I can do that every day, the injuries don't tend to hurt as much.”
Tarren also started with three birdies but bogeyed the 15th before bouncing back on the next. Another gain came on the third after the delay before he made four in a row from the fifth.
“That’s definitely one of my best rounds,” he said. “Obviously I’ve stepped up this week to the European Tour level so it’s good to get a good round in. I would say it’s definitely my best tournament round, so I’m over the moon.”
Green turned in 32 with five birdies and a bogey but made a big move with an eagle on the tenth and birdied the 12th and 13th.
“It was very controlled,” he said. “I was really free-flowing and solid all around. I putted well and kept most shots in play. I hit driver a lot as hard as I could and that worked out well and hopefully I can keep that going for the next couple of rounds and we’ll see what happens.”
Finn Pulkkanen was bogey-free as he joined the group at seven under in the afternoon, while Pavan and Slattery each recorded a single blemish.
Elvira had an eagle and a bogey in his round, with Winther making ten birdies and three bogeys.
Ryder Cup hopeful Eddie Pepperell was in a group of nine players at six under that also contained Vice Captains Padraig Harrington and Lee Westwood.
