Yannik Paul made light of minimal practice and low expectations to put himself in the mix on day one of the Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo.
The German withdrew from the BMW International Open on home soil last week with a back injury and was a doubt to compete at The Belfry, rating his chances at 30% as recently as Tuesday.
But after undergoing treatment and receiving medication, Paul improved physically and despite missing the Pro-Am on Wednesday was able to tee it up a day later.
Beginning the first round from the tenth tee, the 29-year-old, who currently occupies an automatic Ryder Cup spot, bounced back from an opening bogey to card five birdies in his next six holes to play the back nine in 32.
He then cancelled out a birdie at the third with a bogey at the fourth to card a four-under-par 68, three shots behind early pacesetter Justin Rose.
"Sometimes when the expectations aren’t as high, your acceptance if you hit bad shots is better," said Paul, who won his maiden DP World Tour title in Mallorca last season.
"I am obviously really pleased with my round.
“I flew here on Tuesday morning, thinking I’d have a 30 % chance that I could tee it up.
“My physio Rob is here this week and I also received some good treatment last week, but it took some time to get better.
“I wanted to do everything to get ready for today. Yesterday, my hopes got up. I tried to swing some clubs and felt OK so thought I could get it going for tomorrow.
“After some more treatment this morning, the right activation I felt much closer to my normal body.”
Earlier this season, Paul highlighted how he had initially struggled for form this season due to increased expectations on the back of his victory last year, before a change in mindset and a focus on his body helped bring about an upturn in his fortunes.
With four top tens to his name, including back-to-back runner-up finishes in Thailand and India, Paul is optimistic he is slowly working his way back to full fitness.
"I hit a couple of shots yesterday just to get a feel for it," he said. "I felt like I was at 60%, it was painful but I felt like I could play through it.
"I am taped up, got some medication and hopefully by tomorrow I will be much nearer my normal self."
