England's Lee Westwood and South African Anton Haig shared the lead in the Qatar Masters after the first round at the Doha Golf Club yesterday.
They returned scores of five-under 67 in windy conditions, two shots ahead of their rivals in the European Tour event.
Seven players, including the highest-ranked golfer in the field, Australian Adam Scott, were tied for second place.
Spain's Sergio Garcia, Germany's Marcel Siem, England's Paul Broadhurst and Swedish trio Henrik Stenson, a former winner here, Alexander Noren and Johan Edfors, were the others.
Edfors came up with a strong finish with an eagle on the 18th for a three-under par finish.
Graeme McDowell leads the Irish challenge after a two-under-par 70, while Rory McIlroy, after getting to three under par after 16 holes, spoiled a good round with dropped shots at the 17th and 18th for 71.
Damien McGrane in on level par 72, and Peter Lawrie on one-over 73, but Paul McGinley and Gary Murphy have work to do after shooting five-over-par 77s.
McGinley quadrupled the par-four 14th and double-bogeyed the 18th, while Murphy failed to register a birdie in halves of 38 and 39.
Westwood continued his recent hot streak with five birdies. In a bogey-free round, which the Englishman began from the 10th, he birdied the 15th, 18th, first, seventh and ninth.
The great start kept the Englishman's momentum going and he sounded confident of a good finish on Sunday.
"I played very well today," said Westwood. "I started off a little iffy, missed a few greens, but got it together. The birdie on the 15th set the tone for the rest of my game.
"I missed a short foot putt on 16 for a birdie, but afterwards I really got it going.
"All in all, it was a pretty solid day's work. I was quite pleased and I hope I can maintain this form till Sunday."
Haig, last year's Johnnie Walker Classic winner, had six birdies with just one bogey on the par-five ninth.
He has been in poor form recently, but is now working with a new coach, South African Jamie Gough, who has helped him a lot.
"I have been struggling with my game. The game of golf is all about confidence - 90 per cent in the head," he said.
"It's a tough struggle out there, especially with the conditions like they are, windy, and there are a lot of good players out there.
"I played really well and am slowly feeling that I can compete with the big guys again."
Former champion Scott and Garcia both had chances at the last but missed makable birdie putts within eight feet, a fact not lost on world number 12 Garcia.
"I played the last 10 holes pretty well, unfortunately I missed a few birdie chances coming in," Garcia said.
"I got around nicely at the beginning and holed a few nice par putts, then unfortunately missed a few short ones coming in, but it was good overall.
"I'm not that happy as I could have been around the lead, no further than one back, but it's still a decent round."
US Ryder Cup player Scott Verplank struggled to come to terms with the conditions as he fired a six-over 78, with five bogeys, a double bogey and just one birdie.
