Andy Sullivan took strength from his huge supporting gallery as he got the defence of his Portugal Masters title off to a bogey-free start at Victoria Clube de Golfe.
The Englishman won by a record nine strokes last season as he finished 23 under while being followed by the Sulli Army, a loyal band of followers from his home club in Nuneaton.
Their numbers have swelled to 70 this year and Team Sulli, as they are also known, watched on on Thursday as he made four birdies to make a solid start in Vilamoura.
"They take the pressure off," he said. "They are absolutely fantastic. You know, they cheer you on at every moment.
"Front nine, I felt a little bit down the way I was playing and not really converting and they kept me going for a long time there. Then the back nine I started to play better and give myself more chances.
"It's down to them that I probably played that little bit better today. If I didn't have them there, I could have fell into the doldrums after that front nine. Thank Sulli's Army for getting me through that.
"The way I hit it, I felt like I could have squeezed a few more out there. Ball-striking today was pretty good tee-to-green. Again, just didn't quite make the putts but that's been sort of the theme for the last three or four weeks.
They are absolutely fantastic. You know, they cheer you on at every moment - Andy Sullivan
"I feel like if I keep hitting it and give myself chances like that, I'll give myself a low one sooner or later and hopefully I'll be able to do that this week."
Playing partner Alex Noren has three wins in his last eight starts and arrived in Portugal off the back of a victory at the British Masters supported by Sky Sports.
The Swede also fired a four under par 67 and believes more work out on the golf course has helped with his recent excellent run of form.
"I changed home courses," he said. "I'm not done with my home course but I changed to one without a driving range, so I played a lot more rounds and I tried to get a score out of a not-so-perfect swing. Just trying to get it around with a decent score and that's kind of what golf is about.
"I didn't really treat my golf like that before. I was stuck on the driving range for hours and hours and forgot about the putting and the chipping and the scoring.
"So I've played a lot more rounds. Maybe that helps, I don't know. But obviously with one win, you get a lot more confidence. I feel a lot more confident now than before this summer."
