French rookies Clément Berardo and Sébastien Gros were part of a six-way tie for the lead as Lee Westwood made an excellent start in his bid to win a record fourth Nordea Masters.
Berardo, who came through Qualifying School and has already finished third in Morocco during an impressive rookie campaign, recorded a remarkable nine birdies at Bro Hof Slott on his way to a five under par 67.
That was matched by compatriot Gros, England’s Andrew Johnston, Germany’s Florian Fritsch and Scottish pair Scott Henry and Marc Warren on a tightly packed leaderboard.
Former World Number One Westwood is among those a shot further back and expects to be back in the winner's circle soon.
The 43 year old came into the event on the back of a disappointing result in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Club, where he went into the final round two shots off the lead but struggled to a closing 76.
However, having finished second in the Masters Tournament and tenth in the Irish Open in his previous two starts, Westwood believes a 24th European Tour title could be just around the corner.
"Obviously it's nice to come back to places you've won on before, but I'm more happy with the fact that I'm starting to hit the ball really well and seeing the flight on the shots that I like and on the greens I rolled the ball really well today," Westwood said after a round containing six birdies and two bogeys.
"My short game has been sharp for quite some time now so I do really feel like I should start winning tournaments again soon.”
Westwood won his first European Tour title in Sweden in 1996 and also tasted success in 2000 and 2012, as well as finishing runner-up in 2001.
The last of those wins came at this week's venue and a repeat performance from the nine-time Ryder Cup player would make him the first to win the event four times, with Colin Montgomerie and Seve Ballesteros having also won on three occasions.
Johnston, who won the Open de España in April and qualified for his US Open debut on Monday, carded five birdies and no bogeys in his 67, while Berardo fired nine birdies, four bogeys and just five pars.
“I’m thrilled,” said Johnston. “I played really solid golf from tee to green and managed to hole a few putts, so I’m delighted.
“I didn’t really have too much in the way of expectations this week because Wentworth was such a buys week, then I had the US Open qualifier on Monday so I was a bit tired when I got here.”
Fritsch, who refuses to fly and so has only managed one European Tour and three Challenge Tour starts so far this season, was pleased with his bogey-free round.
“I just have to make some complicated journeys but for the most part it’s fine,” he said. “I actually quite like it sometimes, because you get to see parts of Europe you wouldn’t otherwise see. I see it as a bit of an adventure.”
