Matching rounds of 64 left Bernd Wiesberger and Benjamin Hebert tied for the first round lead at the Porsche European Open.
Alstom Open de France champion Wiesberger carded seven birdies in his flawless opening round, including a vital seven foot putt at the 18th to match the clubhouse target of seven under par set by Hebert.
The Austrian started brightly, making gains at the third, eighth and ninth holes to reach the turn in 32.
After picking up another shot at the par five tenth, Wiesberger safely parred the next four holes before successive birdies at the 15th and 16th propelled him up the leaderboard.
The 29 year old then held his nerve at the last, holing his birdie putt to join Hebert at the top of the pile.
"I felt really good coming into this week," said Wiesberger. "I played good golf last week and I dragged that into today as well, so I’m happy with the way I started this tournament.
"I hit the ball pretty well, so few courses wouldn’t suit me right now. It's not often you can say that but I felt in control of my ball flight and yardages.
"I had a few hiccups on the greens but you can’t have it all.
"You can see low scoring out here and perfect conditions so you need to take advantage of that and keep up. We had some great support out there today with Hunter (Mahan) and Bernhard (Langer).
"It was nice out there for all of us and we did feed off each other on the back nine where you feel you have to produce a good score."
Bernd Wiesberger
Starting at the tenth, Hebert notched three birdies in his opening five holes on his way to covering his front nine in 33.
The Frenchman then made gains at the second, third, fifth and sixth holes before carding his only bogey of the day at the seventh.
Another birdie at the eighth, his penultimate hole, took Hebert to seven under par.
The 28 year old said: "It was a great day. I played very well. I have played well for three weeks now but made some mistakes.
"Today I managed the course well and didn’t have any mistakes, so it is a good way to start the tournament. I started well and also had a good start to the back nine.
"I’ve played here two times already on the Challenge Tour and it is a good course. It was in great shape this afternoon and tomorrow the greens will be perfect in the morning."
The pair sit one shot ahead of Graeme Storm, Richard Bland, Richard Green and Darren Fichardt on six under.
German legend Bernhard Langer is among the large group another stroke further back on five under after mixing two birdies with two bogeys on his front nine before making five gains after the turn.
Langer said: “The first nine holes have been all right, but the second part has been great and 31 shots are a really good result."
Hunter Mahan is also on five under after a round of two very different halves on Thursday.
The American reached the turn in 36 after carding eight pars and a bogey on the front nine.
Mahan then carded two eagles and two birdies in his next four holes before parring the final five to finish the day on 66.
"I’ll take this every day, five under is a solid start," said Mahan. "I’m excited to be here at the Porsche European Open and if I keep this up I’ll be happy.
"It was a great patch just after the turn for me. I was just getting a sense on the greens on the front nine. I had some good opportunities but just didn’t make them and then on the back nine I had some good looks, and some good putts for birdies and rolled them true.
"I had a couple of good breaks and a good stretch there which propelled me to five under.
"It was great to play with a German golfing legend like Bernhard Langer. He’s a great competitor. He doesn’t enter an event unless he thinks he can win.
"He still has great skill and drive at his age. It’s very impressive. It’s neat just to be around him."
Meanwhile Graeme McDowell posted a three under par 68, including five birdies and a double bogey.
