Englishmen Matt Fitzpatrick and Sam Hutsby carded flawless rounds of 66 to share the clubhouse lead during the opening day of the D+D REAL Czech Masters.
Beginning his round on the back nine, Hutsby got off to the perfect start, making gains at his opening three holes before picking up another shot on the 17th to reach the turn in 32.
And the 26 year old finished with a flourish, firing back to back birdies at the eighth and ninth to set the early clubhouse target on six under par.
Fitzpatrick also started brightly, following up birdies at the tenth and 11th, his opening two holes, with further gains at 16th and 18th.
After sending his approach shot at the par four second to within five feet, the Sheffield native rolled in his birdie putt before making another gain at the short third.
The 20 year old then safely parred the last six holes to join Hutsby at the top of the leaderboard.
Former US Amateur Champion Fitzpatrick was thrilled to finish the day on six under but felt he could have gone even lower.
"I played really nicely to start with and was fairly consistent," said Fitzpatrick. "I didn’t really hole any putts though.
"I hit my approaches pretty close, which makes life easier, and I holed the short ones.
"I could have been more under par. It was almost a bit frustrating. I’m delighted to come in six under, but I missed a few chances on the last six holes. But you can’t complain at six under.
"It means a lot that people are talking about me as one of the favourites to win. It’s something I never thought I’d have in my first year out here. It’s something you dream about growing up. Matt Fitzpatrick
"You watch TV and you want to be the guy winning and challenging all the time. It’s what you want and it means a lot to me."
Hutsby was pleased to get off to such a strong start at Albatross Golf Resort.
He said: "I’ve really struggled in my first rounds this year, so I thought it would be nice to have an under par round and take the pressure off making the cut.
"I think I’ve done that pretty well today and I will set my sights a bit higher this week.
"It has been a really tough year. I’ve missed so many cuts by one or two shots, which has been pretty costly. It will give me a confidence boost, a round like that.
"It has been a tough year though and I’m not going to put too much pressure on myself. It’s nice to post a bogey free card and I will try to continue it this week."
Northern Ireland's Michael Hoey carded six birdies and a solitary bogey on his way to an opening 67, and sits one shot behind the co-leaders, along with Jordi Garcia Pinto, Roope Kakko and Kristoffer Broberg.
Kakko was pleasantly surprised by his score. He said: "I played the pro-am yesterday and the course played tough. I thought level par would be a good score, but I got it going and five under surprised me a bit.
"Tee to green I was good today and rolled a few putts in."
