Spain’s Sergio Garcia wasted little time signalling his intentions by going straight to the top of the leader board in his first appearance in the BMW Masters at Lake Malaren in Shanghai.

Garcia equalled his lowest round on The European Tour this season to take a one shot lead with a sizzling 64 that included nine birdies and one clear of the duo of Byeong-hun An and Victor Dubuisson.

With Race to Dubai leader Rory McIlroy not playing at Lake Malaren Golf Club, this week presents an opportunity for the chasing pack to stake their claim to be Europe’s number one and Justin Rose made the most progress on Thursday with a 67.

Spain’s Sergio Garcia goes straight to the top of the leaderboard in his first appearance in the BMW Masters. (Photo – Fran Caffrey/www.golffile.ie)

However Danny Willett, and needing to finish 28th in Shanghai to go ahead of McIlroy, endured a frustrating day as he carded a level par 72 with playing partners Shane Lowry and Louis Oosthuizen both going round in 70.

But the day clearly belonged to Garcia, though, who equalled his score in the final round of the Omega European Masters.

The 35 year old began on the tenth and was four under after five holes thanks to gains on his opener, the 12th, 13th and 14th. A bogey was to come on the 17th but a run of five birdies in seven holes from the first ensured he would hold the first round lead.

“It was nice,” he said. “I obviously played nicely. Conditions were quite good, not much wind. A little bit of a drizzle but other than that it was good.

“The course is nice, I drove the ball very well and that gave me a lot of opportunities to hit some good iron shots. It was a nice round.

“I had a couple of nice birdies – three birdies in the first four on my front nine and then another three or four birdies on the first four or five on the back nine.

“I’m feeling a bit more comfortable, a bit better. I had a couple of rounds last week where I felt like I played better than I did in Malaysia.

Dubuisson claimed his second Turkish Airlines Open two weeks ago with three birdies in his last four holes and he carried that form into this week with three straight gains from the 11th.

Further birdies followed on the 15th, 18th and second and the Frenchman was threatening Garcia’s lead but he recorded six pars before a closing birdie left him a shot behind.

An is in a battle with Anirban Lahiri and Matthew Fitzpatrick for the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year award and he did his chances no harm with a blemish-free opening round.

The BMW PGA Championship winner was playing alongside Dubuisson and he picked up shots on the tenth, 13th and 15th before a run of three birdies from the first catapulted him up the leaderboard.

Another birdie then followed on the seventh for the young Korean who came into the week tenth in The Race to Dubai.

A birdie-birdie finish helped get Ross Fisher to six under and he held a share of fourth place alongside Lucas Bjerregaard.

The Englishman was in contention during the closing stages of last week’s World Golf Championships – HSBC Champions before finishing in a tie for third and lost here in a play-off last year to Marcel Siem.

There was then a large group at four under with 17 players within four shots of the lead.

Fitzpatrick signed for a 68 along with countrymen Ian Poulter and Eddie Pepperell while local duo Zecheng Dou and Xinjun Zhang were also four under alongside Francesco Molinari, Richie Ramsay, Henrik Stenson and Jaco Van Zyl.

Two-time Major winner Martin Kaymer was then among those at three under, one clear of Lowry and Oosthuizen and two ahead of Bernd Wiesberger and Branden Grace.
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