Lucas Bjerregaard was happy to “grind” out a two-under-par round of 68 in difficult conditions on day one of the Made in HimmerLand.
Bjerregaard was alongside fellow home favourite Rasmus Hojgaard as Robert MacIntyre led at six under in Denmark.
Starting at the tenth hole, Bjerregaard bogeyed his first two holes but bounced back with three birdies in four holes from the 14th to get under par for the first time.
He gave a shot back at the 18th but responded by birdieing the first and fifth, and though he missed from six feet to bogey the eighth he finished his round with a seven-foot birdie putt at the ninth.
“It was tough, it was very tough,” he said. “When we were warming up in the rain this morning I would have taken 68, no doubt.
“I didn’t play amazing at times but I putted really well, holed a few good ones to keep me in the round.
“It was nice to finish with a birdie on nine there, after I made bogey on eight, so I’m very pleased. Today was all about keeping the ball in play and the few chances you get, you have to take advantage.
“It was a grind, I’m starting to feel it already!”
Bjerregaard’s best finish of this season was tied 36th at last month's Kaskáda Golf Challenge on the European Challenge Tour, while his last top-five finish on the DP World Tour came at last year’s Cazoo Open supported by Gareth Bale.
He said: “The last couple of years have been rough, no doubt.
“The last couple of weeks have been encouraging, I’ve seen some good signs in my game, without any decent results really but I’ve seen a few changes and a few things starting to make sense.”
Hojgaard was playing his first tournament since recovering from a rib injury which forced him to retire after the first round of the BMW International Open and then miss the Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo.
Also starting on the back nine, he made birdies at the 11th, 14th and 17th before a bogey at the 18th.
Birdies at the first and fifth took him to four under and though he bogeyed the sixth and seventh, he said: “I would have taken minus two before we started today. So I'm very happy with how I played.
“I had low expectations going into this week as well with, you know, everything that has happened over the last couple of months. I wasn't going to be too hard on myself on that, knowing what conditions we were facing as well. So I just tried to take it a bit easier, just trying to keep the ball in play."
