Matteo Manassero’s six under par 66 gave the Italian teenager the clubhouse lead at the Maybank Malaysian Open.
A run of four consecutive birdies from the 15th helped Manassero – who turns 18 next Tuesday – race to an outward 31 after teeing off at the tenth.
“I made a good putt on 15 and three short ones from four foot,” he said. “They got me going from one under to five under straight away.”
There were further gains at the third and fifth and a bogey at the sixth on the way in as the Castello Masters Costa Azahar winner opened up a one shot clubhouse lead.
“It was a good round of golf,” he added. “I played well – six under is a good way to start. It gives you a lot of confidence and that’s what I need. I holed a few nice 20 footers and was unlucky with my putts on six and seven which lipped out.
“I’m happy I had not many mistakes. I missed just one shot and recovered well on others. I like the grainy greens - I feel like I can hit every putt solid and it gives me confidence putting.”
Closest to Manassero were his playing partner Jeev Milkha Singh and Australian Darren Beck.
Three-time European Tour winner Singh also started on the back nine and after turning three under par made birdies at the fifth, sixth and ninth either side of a dropped shot at the seventh.
That left the Indian alongside Beck, who has yet to record a top ten finish on The European Tour but mixed six birdies with a bogey.
Singh admitted the presence of 17 year old Manassero playing so well made him up his own game.
“I think so when you see these young guys, you think ‘hey I used to do this too’” he said. “I can still do it and you try to get it on. You take the positives from out of this and move on.”
Welshman Jamie Donaldson sat alone in fourth place on four under par with one to play, with Open Champion Louis Oosthuizen among those one further back.
Perhaps not surprisingly, newly crowned Masters Tournament champion Charl Schwartzel struggled early on.
Just 72 hours after his exploits at Augusta National, the South African had three bogeys in an outward 39 before fighting back with two birdies and no dropped shots on the way in for a respectable one over par 73.
World Number One Martin Kaymer was one under after four holes, while Rory McIlroy – who led for 63 holes in Georgia – immediately banished any disappointment with a couple of early birdies to be two under through four.
Manassero was passed late in the afternoon by Swede Alexander Noren, who was seven under with two to play.
Noren started with a hattrick of birdies, dropped a shot at the 14th, before gaining five shots in the space of eight holes from the 16th.
Spain’s Alejandro Cañizares was also going well, advancing to four under with five holes remaining.
