Grégory Havret, Eddie Pepperell and Aaron Rai found their form to set the clubhouse target on day one of the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.
The trio had enjoyed an indifferent start to the 2018 season, with nine missed cuts from 17 combined appearances, but made hay on a day of uncharacteristically low winds at Doha Golf Club.
Opening rounds of 65 moved them to seven under, a shot clear of Italian Edoardo Molinari, Spaniard Alvaro Quiros and German Marcel Schneider.
Richard Bland had set the early pace as he got to six under after 11 holes but when he bogeyed the third he found himself in a three-way tie for the lead alongside playing partner Pepperell and charging Frenchman Havret.
England's Pepperell had made birdies on the tenth, 11th, 14th, 16th and 18th with a single blemish on the 13th to share the lead before gains from Bland on the first and second moved him clear.
A Pepperell birdie on the second put him in position to capitalise on Bland's slip but Havret got there in more dramatic style, making five birdies in six holes from the sixth.
The duo then went toe-to-toe, with Pepperell putting an approach on the fifth to six feet and Havret holing from eight feet after an excellent tee-shot on the par three 13th.
Smart approaches to the seventh and 16th respectively had the duo in the clubhouse where they were joined by Englishman Rai after a big finish.
A three-time winner on the Challenge Tour last season, Rai had birdies on the first, sixth, ninth, 12th and 16th before he made an eagle on the par five last.
Molinari also finished in style to complete a run of seven birdies in ten holes.
After eight pars, the Trophée Hassan II champion made four birdies in a row from the ninth and added another on the 14th. A dropped shot followed on the 15th but he birdied the 16th before chipping in at the last for a closing gain.
Schneider was bogey-free in his round, making gains on the second, sixth, tenth, 12th, 14th and 16th.
Quiros was another player not to have a blemish on his card with birdies on the first, third, seventh, tenth, 14th and last.
German Sebastian Heisele made an eagle on the driveable 16th en route to a five under par 67 that left him alongside bogey-free Spaniard Adrian Otaegui and Finn Mikko Ilonen, who had a single dropped shot in his round.
There were then 15 players at four under including defending champion Jeunghun Wang and two-time winner Paul Lawrie.
