Richard Sterne was among those off to a fine start as the BMW Italian Open presented by CartaSi began at Royal Park I Roveri.
The South African, who missed almost all of last season with a back injury, has notched four top-ten finishes in his last nine starts, all without missing a cut.
That good form continued in Turin as the five-time European Tour winner turned in a four under par 32 to share the lead with Italian Joon Kim and Indian Shiv Kapur.
Kapur, looking for his first top-ten finish of the season, birdied four holes in a row from the 11th to be four under after six, while 24 year old Kim also made four consecutive gains, his run coming from the fifth.
England’s Daniel Denison was a shot off the pace after mixing five birdies and two bogeys over his first 12 holes, along with South African Darren Fichardt and French pair Romain Wattel and Raphaël Jacquelin.
Defending champion Robert Rock was also going well, the Englishman reaching two under through eight, while Ryder Cup-bound trio Francesco Molinari, Martin Kaymer and Nicolas Colsaerts were among the afternoon starters.
