Damien McGrane lies just one shot off the lead after carding a four-under-par 68 in the opening round of the Volvo China Open this morning.

Starting on the tenth, the Meathman was level par after nine but picked up four shots in seven holes after the turn to join a raft of players in second place, one behind leader Michael Lorenzo-Vera.

It all added up to a good day's work for McGrane, currently 18th on the Order of Merit and enjoying his best season on tour to date.

There was disappointment for the remaining Irish players who made the trip to China, with Graeme McDowell's one-over round of 73 the best of the rest. Gary Murphy struggled to a 75 while Peter Lawrie's 79 means he is unlikely to survive the halfway cut.

Lorenzo-Vera won the 2007 Challenge Tour and is playing in his 10th tour event of the season at the Beijing CBD International Golf Club.

His best finish to date was at the Alfred Dunhill Championship in December when he tied for ninth but he put himself in a promising position to better that with a fine opening round.

"I am making better decisions and it is getting easier on the course," he said. "I was making mistakes with the strategy and that is getting much better so I am very happy."

Among those alongside McGrane on four-under is former prodigy Zane Scotland, once hailed as the new Tiger Woods when he won a competition to find Britain's next top golfer aged 14.

Shortly before he turned professional in 2003, however, Scotland suffered a severe neck injury in a car crash and was unable to practice properly until last season.

The 25-year-old finished 96th on the Order of Merit in 2007 to earn his card from just nine events and carded six birdies and two bogeys today to share the lead at the top of a congested leaderboard.

"I am pleased," said Scotland. "I didn't really have much expectation as I haven't got my sleeping pattern sorted yet, I probably should have got here a bit earlier. I got about three hours sleep last night so wasn't expecting to do well but maybe sometimes it is the best way."

There was disappointment for David Howell, however, as he suffered a final-hole nightmare to drop way down the leaderboard.

The 34-year-old approached the last at three under but ran up a triple bogey eight to finish level par after twice finding water.

"I don't know what to say," conceded Howell. "Five under would have been a miracle, three under would have been delightful but level par was a disaster."