Lee Westwood set the early pace on the opening morning of the British Masters supported by Sky Sports.
The Ryder Cup star began his first round at the tenth tee and made the perfect start, tapping in from two feet for a birdie at the earliest opportunity.
The Englishman then reeled off three straight birdies from the 13th to storm to the top of the leaderboard.
Westwood dropped his first shot of the day at the 16th after missing his eight-foot par putt, but he bounced back immediately, rolling in his birdie putt from six feet at the 17th to get back to four under.
And the 43 year old finished his front nine with a par at the long 18th to reach the turn in 32.
Westwood was one shot clear of a chasing pack made up of Bernd Wiesberger, Mikko Ilonen, Søren Kjeldsen and Anthony Wall.
