India's Arjun Atwal set the early clubhouse target after producing a spotless 66 in testing conditions on day one of the Honma Hong Kong Open presented by Amundi.
After Challenge Tour winner Joachim B Hansen had played the opening tee-shot of the 2019 Race to Dubai season at Hong Kong Golf Club on Thursday morning, three-time European Tour winner Atwal fired four birdies and no bogeys to reach four under par.
Later starters Khalin H Joshi, Hyowon Park and Jack Singh Brar were Atwal's closest challengers on three under after making fast starts to their first rounds.
Sam Brazel, who won this event two years ago, and Spaniard Alvaro Quiros signed for two-under-par 68s, while Ryder Cup star Tommy Fleetwood was on two under as he made his way down the back nine.
Starting at the 11th tee on a cool and windy morning in Fanling, Atwal reeled off six straight pars before notching his first birdie at the 17th.
The 45 year old picked up another shot at the first before making back-to-back gains on the third and fourth to climb to four under.
Atwal produced a stunning par save at the tricky ninth hole, rolling in from ten feet to keep his card clean.
And after coming agonisingly close to holing his long birdie putt at the tenth - his last - Atwal tapped in from close range for a par to sign for an opening 66.
Atwal, who has been struggling with an ongoing back issue in recent months, was pleased with his first-round score. He said: "It was really tough out there today. Especially early in the morning, it was really cold and windy.
"It felt like it was coming from all over. I'm really happy with the score.
"I tried to keep the ball in front of me. I know it's a cliché, but you know, on this golf course if you start hitting it sideways, you're going to make a lot of bogeys.
"So my game plan was to keep the ball down and let it run out and that's what I did, basically, all day.
"I'm looking forward to it (the rest of the week).
"I really haven't played much this year and when I have it hasn't been all that great, so looking forward to this week."
Quiros had been alongside Atwal at the top of the leaderboard on four under after following an eagle at the long 13th - his third hole - with birdies at the 14th and third but he slipped back to two under after carding bogeys on the fourth and eighth.
Brazel, meanwhile, fired back-to-back birdies at the third and fourth to get to two under before dropping his only shot of the day at the eighth.
A gain at the 16th then saw the Australian return to two under.
He said: "It was great. Obviously it's nice to be in the red after day one, especially in those tough conditions early on.
"The wind was quite up. Yeah, quite blustery. Yeah, tough out there this morning."
