Home favourite Bernd Wiesberger said there was room for improvement after a solid opening round of the Lyoness Open powered by Sporthilfe Cashback Card that banished the demons of his start in 2015.
In five appearances at the tournament Wiesberger has one win, in 2012, and has only finished outside the top 14 on one occasion.
That was last year when an opening round 79 saw him miss the cut by one shot, despite going five under on day two.
This year, in a group with defending champion Chris Wood and Thomas Bjørn, he started with a two under 70 at Diamond Country Club in Atzenbrugg.
Wiesberger admitted he felt a little bit under pressure to avoid a similar scenario to last year, but was soon back playing his normal game.
He said: "I'd like to say it wasn't in the back of my mind but obviously on the first tee I got a bit quick and didn't hit a great shot. I recovered well and played solidly then.
I kept plugging away. Obviously I'd rather start with two under than seven over - Bernd Wiesberger
"I'll be working a bit on my iron game this afternoon, a bit on pace putting, and I'm looking forward to improving on that score tomorrow."
Wiesberger's score was the best in his playing group, with Wood bogeying his last two holes for a 71 and Thomas Bjørn withdrawing after 15 holes due to a back problem.
Starting on the 10th, Wiesberger reached the turn in 35 following eight pars and a birdie on the 15.
He also picked up shots on the first and fourth before bogeying the seventh.
Summing up his performance, Wiesberger said: "It wasn't a great round, it was kind of in between. There were some good things some not so good things
"All of it was quite solid, so I never felt other than the odd hole that I was under pressure to make par. I just didn't hit my irons solidly enough to give myself opportunities and unfortunately had one disastrous one on seven."
