On a course that has seen rounds of 60 and 61 in the past, England's Chris Wood again showed what was possible during the opening round of the Mercedes-Benz Championship.
The 21 year old, fifth in The Open Championship as an amateur last year and third at Turnberry in July, began with a six under par 66 at Golf Club Gut Lärchenhof.
It gave Wood an early one shot clubhouse lead over Scotland’s David Drysdale, South African James Kingston and Australian Scott Strange in the elite 78-man event.
The six foot five inch Bristol golfer was only two under at the turn, but then had a hat-trick of birdies from the 11th and added another on the long 15th.
"I felt completely in control the whole way round," said Wood, still in his first full season on The European Tour.
"It's difficult the first year when you're not getting into every tournament, but I sort of feel I've settled into it."
Lee Westwood, who opened with a 61 on his last visit two years ago, and Henrik Stenson, the two highest ranked players in the field, were in the very last group to tee off and other late starters included Colin Montgomerie and Bernhard Langer.
Ryder Cup Captain Montgomerie, without a top ten finish since June last year, bogeyed the second, while 52 year old tournament host Langer ran up a double bogey five at the 191 yard fourth.
Westwood was going much better. He birdied the second and third.
