Victor Perez showed no signs of rust as he raced to seven under after seven holes in an opening 66 that put him in a good position after day one of the 2022 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
The Frenchman has finished second in three Rolex Series events - including this one in 2020 - and was playing in back-to-back blue riband tournaments on the DP World Tour having not teed it up anywhere in the world since the 2021 season-finale in Dubai.
But the break clearly did not do him any harm as he made five birdies and an eagle in his first seven holes to race up the leaderboard before adding one more and two late bogeys to sit at six under.
"After a long lay-off... obviously you practise, you do everything but nothing replaces competition so it was a little nerve-wracking to start," he said.
"I had as good of a start as anybody could have expected, really flying, holed out a shot - obviously a bit of fortune - but playing really nicely.
"Then you're in a situation that is a bit odd and I think every golfer knows, when you're really low through eight or nine holes, it's a weird balance because it's hard to keep going in a sense. I think you get a little bit outside your comfort zone.
"I just tried to make good swings and the back nine plays harder with the wind picking up a little bit, obviously nothing compared to what it's been and what it probably will be the rest of the week, but I'm still very pleased."
Perez's runner up finish two years ago came amid a purple patch of form as he won the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship then finished in the top five at the WGC-HSBC Champions and second at the Turkish Airlines Open.
You want to believe that anything is possible - as it is - but at the same time maybe cut yourself a little bit of a break sometimes
That helped propel him into the Major Championships and Ryder Cup contention and he revealed he is now being less hard on himself as he adjusts to his position in the upper echelons of the game.
"There's a lot more going on and it's about compartmentalising as best as possible, try to keep the game where it is and focus on what's important," he said.
"I think it's very easy to get distracted and as a rookie-ish, my first time for the Ryder Cup and for the Majors and big events, you might get a little carried away. I think it was accepting that thought and try to be like 'I feel fine' rather than maybe lowering expectation.
"I think I played really well the end of 2019, start of 2020, and then you almost make your new norm playing really well and it's difficult because you want to believe that anything is possible - as it is - but at the same time maybe cut yourself a little bit of a break sometimes."
