Sergio Garcia and Bryson DeChambeau were part of a six-way tie at the top of the leaderboard after posting flawless 66s early on day one of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic.
Playing in the same group, World Number Five DeChambeau and 2017 Masters Champion Garcia each carded six birdies and no bogeys in the morning to head into the clubhouse in a share of the lead on six under par.
Scott Hend, Matthieu Pavon, Thongchai Jaidee and Kalle Samooja also produced opening rounds of 66 early on Thursday, with only a disappointing double bogey at the last preventing Jaidee from holding the outright lead.
Defending champion Haotong Li, Kim Koivu, Hideto Tanihara, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Paul Waring, Jason Scrivener and Christiaan Bezuidenhout were another shot back in a tie for seventh after producing 67s on a morning of impressive scoring at Emirates Golf Club.
Starting at the par-five tenth, American DeChambeau tapped in from close range for a birdie at the earliest opportunity before adding another at the 13th.
He closed his front nine with back-to-back birdies at the 17th and 18th to reach the turn in 33.
After holing his birdie putt from around five feet at the second, DeChambeau expertly rolled in his tricky ten-foot effort at the eighth to get to six under.
DeChambeau was pleased with his score but felt his performance left room for improvement.
He said: "I didn't feel like I was hitting it anywhere near my best.
"I was able to recover in a couple of situations, made a couple of long putts and then got up and down on six, which was huge.
"I even missed a couple of putts. I just felt like it was a scrappy round, but I got it out and shot 66 today, so I'm happy."
DeChambeau's playing partner Garcia also started brightly, picking up shots at the tenth and 16th before catching fire on the back nine.
The Spaniard made gains at the first, third and fourth before firing another birdie at the eighth.
"I got better as the round went on," said Garcia.
"I started hitting the ball very nicely on the back nine, for sure. I hit some good shots on the front, don't get me wrong, but I played really, really well on the back nine.
"Just a couple of putts here and there would have been nice to make, but overall, I think it was a nice opening round."
Thailand's Jaidee made a fast start, notching back-to-back birdies at the second and third before repeating the trick at the sixth and seventh to jump to four under.
And the birdies kept on coming after the turn, as he reeled off three in four holes from the tenth to climb to the top of the leaderboard.
He increased his advantage to two shots when he holed his 15-foot birdie putt at the 17th but he could not keep his card clean, surrendering a double bogey at the last to fall back to six under.
Jaidee said: "The feeling is good.
"After the 17th, we doubled the last. Unfortunately I hit behind the ball and dunked it in the water.
"That's a good start - six under is a good start for me today."
