Tyrrell Hatton, Adri Arnaus and Justin Harding will share a one shot lead heading into the second round of the 2020 BMW PGA Championship after an enthralling opening day at Wentworth Golf Club.
After Storm Alex last week and with rain around early in the morning, the West Course was playing long but receptive at the third Rolex Series event of the 2020 Race to Dubai, and Hatton was the man to master the conditions in the morning.
The Englishman fired a 66 to get to six under and for a long time it looked like he would hold the solo lead after 18 holes but Harding and Arnaus had other ideas.
The South African was bogey free as he matched Hatton's effort and Arnaus also kept a clean card as he birdied three of his final five holes to make his move.
Home duo Matthew Fitzpatrick and Eddie Pepperell, Open Champion Shane Lowry and Malaysia's Gavin Green were then at five under on a congested leaderboard.
Hatton knows what it takes to win big events, with two Rolex Series victories joining a pair of Alfred Dunhill Links Championships on his CV.
But the 28-year-old admits a victory at European Tour HQ would be something truly special having attended this event as a fan with his father as a child.
"This is a tournament I've been coming to since I was five years old," he said. "To lift the trophy here is a goal of mine in my career and hopefully I can play well the next few days and give myself a chance to do that.
"I just feel pretty comfortable out on the golf course. I've been around it so many times now, so (it) kind of almost has that home course feel and you just feel like you know it so well."
Harding has a victory at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters but a Rolex Series win would be the biggest of his career, and the 34-year-old is relishing taking on the European Tour's best.
"I think everyone teeing it up knows the stature of the event and how important it is for the season," he said. "It's obviously an opportunity to have all the big guns out and playing and any golfer wants to taste the best out there.
"I think the thing that makes me most happy is there were no bogeys. I played good, solid. I had good control of my ball flight and my irons. Just a matter of trying to find a few fairways and see if I can give myself a couple of chances on the greens."
Arnaus finished second three times last season as he seeks a first European Tour victory, and the Spaniard's opening round was all the more remarkable considering it was his first competitive effort on the West Course.
"It's always good news when you're not adding any strokes to your scorecard," he said. "Very, very pleased with how I played. I was very on point from tee, hitting on to the green and then I rolled some putts. So enjoyed it a lot, my first competitive round around here and it was very, very fun."
My first competitive round around here and it was very, very fun - Adri Arnaus
Hatton birdied the par three tenth after starting on the ninth and then took advantage of the par five 12th, 17th and 18th to join a five way tie for the lead.
He was one behind when he found the rough with his first and second shots on the fourth but he found the cup with his third for an eagle and held the lead.
He went left into the heather off the seventh tee and had to chip out to surrender a bogey but responded with a beautiful approach into his closing hole and holed from 18 feet for a two shot advantage.
Wentworth's par threes are known to be a big test but Harding made gains on the tenth, 14th and second to go with birdies on the par five 17th and fourth, before an approach to eight feet on the par four seventh saw him hit the summit.
Arnaus birdied the 11th and then took advantage of the 12th, 18th and fourth before making back to back gains on the sixth and seventh to make it a three way tie.
Green was also bogey free in his round, while Pepperell bogeyed the tough third but then picked up six birdies in what he called "the best five under I've ever shot on Tour".
Irishman Lowry birdied five of his last seven holes to go with two other birdies and two bogeys, with Fitzpatrick enjoying a birdie-birdie-birdie finish in a round where he dropped just one shot.
Former World Number One and two time Rolex Series champion Justin Rose was at four under alongside last week's winner Aaron Rai, another Englishman in Andrew Johnston, Kiwi Ryan Fox, Dane Joachim B. Hansen, Australians Scott Hend and Wade Ormsby, and Austrian Matthias Schwab.
There was then a bunch of eight players at three under, one clear of a group including two time Rolex Series winners Lee Westwood and Bernd Wiesberger, two time winner in 2020 Rasmus Højgaard and World Number Nine Patrick Reed.
