Grégory Havret, Eddie Pepperell and Aaron Rai made the most of calm conditions to share the first-round lead at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.
Doha Golf Club is known for its windy conditions and while the breeze did get up slightly in the afternoon – with the first rainfall in Qatar since March – the morning was perfectly calm and the leading trio all took advantage with seven under par rounds of 65.
England's Oliver Fisher, Italian Edoardo Molinari, Spaniard Alvaro Quiros and German Marcel Schneider were then a shot off the lead.
Englishman Pepperell missed his first two cuts of the season but made the weekend in Malaysia and Oman and – with a little help from a new coach – was glad to be making further progress.
“I've made some changes this week with personnel so I've been working on a couple of new things and I surprised myself out there with how well I managed to trust it,” he said.
“It's been pretty nice on the range, although yesterday it was a bit of a grind, a bit of a struggle in the afternoon so I was in my room in my boxers doing some drills last night.
“I'm looking forward to the weekend but even more so moving forward to the rest of the season. I want to push forward and I just feel like my game has been hitting ceilings a bit. I want to break through that.”
Havret also has a 50 per cent success-rate from six cuts so far this season, and the Frenchman had no doubt where the improvement had come from after a bogey-free effort.
“I was putting well and that's definitely the key,” he said. “Last week I didn't play much different and I missed the cut by a lot.
“As soon as you feel your putting is not able to compensate for your mistakes you put more pressure on your driving and your iron shots and then it can be a disaster as you try things that you normally don't. It's all part of the process, if you putt well you feel comfortable.”
Rai made the jump to the European Tour via three wins on the Challenge Tour last season and a 65 equalled his best round since making the move.
“I drove it well and then gave myself a lot of opportunities with the approach play, didn't miss too many greens,” he said.
“Gameplan-wise, you have to be doing something right and playing some good golf to shoot a 65 so I'll just continue in the same vein and try not to change too much.”
Pepperell made birdies on the tenth, 11th, 14th, 16th and 18th, with a single blemish on the 13th, to share the lead at the turn and he made another gain on the second to get to five under.
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 Rai after a big finish.
The Englishman 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.
Fisher was the best of the afternoon starters, playing the front nine in 31 after starting on the tenth.
Belgian Thomas Detry, American Sean Crocker, Italian Lorenzo Gagli, German Sebastian Heisele, Finn Mikko Ilonen, Spaniard Adrian Otaegui and England's Joshua White were at five under, a shot clear of a group of 24 players.
