Matt Wallace was delighted to see his hard work pay off as he posted an excellent 65 on the opening day of the Betfred British Masters.
The Englishman arrived at Hillside Golf Club as the second highest ranked player in the field and that class shone through as he posted seven birdies to sit just two shots off the lead held by countryman Matthew Jordan.
Wallace had missed two of his last three cuts and failed to get out of his group at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play in his last four European Tour appearances, and admitted he had been unhappy with his form.
The 29-year-old has recently added to his team and while he admitted that may take a while to bear fruit, he was happy to hit the ground running in Southport.
"Conditions-wise, it was favourable," he said. "I think the pins were accessible in areas but you've still got to do it and I'm very happy with that start because I've had a few missed cuts and I haven't played great.
"I worked hard the last couple weeks and it paid off so I'm very happy.
"I have a new strength and conditioning program. A well known guy to golf in Stephen McGregor who helped Westy (Lee Westwood) and Rory McIlroy, got them to World Number One, and another guy called Harry who is my physio and trainer.
"At the moment, it's more assessment than actually changing some stuff. But just to know that they are there on my team and backing me and we are going to get cracking from now on. More talking about the bigger picture rather than just this week.
"So I'm not putting too much pressure this week to go and play. It's more about the bigger picture and hopefully down the line we can get some big wins."
Swede Marcus Kinhult was also at seven under after recording eight birdies and a single bogey in his round.
"Yesterday, I didn't feel that good," he said. "Actually I got beaten by the amateurs I played with in the Pro-Am, but they played really well. It's good fun.
"I haven't played that well lately so it was nice to be able to have a good round and I hope I can do well the next few days.
"I holed a bunch of putts for birdie and for par. I made some good saves as well so that kept me going. Short game and putting is phenomenal today. That's key."
