Swede Henrik Stenson blended his customary big-hitting with some precision putting to card a seven-under-par 65 for a one-shot first round lead over a quality field at the HSBC Champions. Peter Lawrie and Damien McGrane lead the Irish challenge on four-under with Padraig Harrington a shot further back.
Sergio Garcia was left ruing a missed four-foot eagle putt on the 18th that left him sharing second place with the man he wants to replace as world number two this week, American Phil Mickelson, as well as Anthony Kim and Australian Adam Scott.
World number 12 Stenson started with a bogey but made amends immediately with an eagle three at the second, finding the green with a huge 3-wood and holing out from six feet.
That set off a birdie charge from the Swede and he picked up shots at the next three holes before adding three more over the remainder of his round despite limited visibility as fog descended on the Sheshan International course.
"I made my score on or around the greens today for sure . . . I'm very pleased with the scoring and keeping it together," said the 32-year-old. "When we came up on 16, we could not see more than sort of the contours of the greens."
Marc Cayeux and Owen Wilson were tied for fifth after 67s, while McGrane and Lawrie were among seven players on four-under.
Garcia, who will overhaul Mickelson in the rankings if he wins, had a blemish-free day but it could have been even better.
"The putt on the 18th was pretty much just a bad putt," he said. "It was a very easy putt and I just didn't hit it well.
"Unfortunately my putting stroke didn't feel as good as it has recently, maybe it's the jet lag."
Mickelson, compatriot Kim and Cayeux also eagled the second and the defending champion was pleased with the start to his title defence.
"I made a lot of good putts today," Mickelson said. "Last year I putted the greens very well. That was a big key to me winning and I putted them well today."
The Champions, which is aiming to become Asia's major, is co-sanctioned by the European and Asian Tours, the PGA Tour of Australasia, the Sunshine Tour and the China Golf Association.
Collated Scores
(Irish and British unless stated, Irish in bold, par 72)
65Henrik Stenson (Swe)
66Phil Mickelson (USA), Anthony Kim (USA), Adam Scott (Aus), Sergio Garcia (Spa)
67Oliver Wilson, Marc Cayeux (Zim)
68 Damien McGrane, Prayad Marksaeng (Tha), Ian Poulter, Gregory Bourdy (Fra), Peter Lawrie, Thomas Levet (Fra)
69Charl Schwartzel (Rsa), Ross Fisher, Scott Strange (Aus), Wen-Tang Lin (Tai), Ben Leong (Mal), Andrew McLardy (Rsa), Robert Karlsson (Swe), Peter Hanson (Swe), Felipe Aguilar (Chi), Padraig Harrington
70Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind), Hennie Otto (Rsa), Seung-yul Noh (Kor), Geoff Ogilvy (Aus), Alvaro Quiros (Spa)
71Mikael Lundberg (Swe), Graeme McDowell, Soren Hansen (Den), Lian-Wei Zhang (Chn), Mark Brown (USA), Paul Casey, KJ Choi (Kor), Richard Finch, Wen-chong Liang (Chn), Lei Shang (Tpe), Richard Sterne (Rsa)
72Trevor Immelman (Rsa), Gui Ming Liao (Chn), Soren Kjeldsen (Den), Joong Kyung Mo (Kor), Darren Clarke
73James Kingston (Rsa), Jean Hugo (Rsa), Andrew Bonhomme (Aus), Martin Kaymer (Ger), Wen Teh Lu (Tpe), Wei-Huang Wu (Tpe), Ashun Wu (Chn), Rick Kulacz (Aus), Sang-moon Bae (Kor), Alastair Forsyth, Chapchai Nirat (Tha), Camilo Villegas (Col), Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra), Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa)
74David Dixon, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa), Angelo Que (Phi)
75David Horsey, Hao Yuan (Chn), Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha)
76Scott Hend (Aus), David Gleeson (Aus), Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind), Gregory Havret (Fra), Chao Li (Chn)
77Inn-choon Hwang (Kor), John Bickerton, Kangchun Wu (Chn), James Kamte (Rsa)
78Bryan Saltus (USA), Pablo Larrazabal (Spa)
79David Howell
88Shaun Norris (Rsa)
Second round tee-times
(all times Irish)
01.40Lian-Wei Zhang (Chn), Richard Finch, KJ Choi (Kor)
01.50Mark Brown, Soren Hansen (Den), Richard Sterne (Rsa)
02.00Paul Casey, Lei Shang (Tpe), Graeme McDowell
02.10Wen-chong Liang (Chn), Mikael Lundberg (Swe), Hennie Otto (Rsa)
02.20Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind), Alvaro Quiros (Spa), Seung-yul Noh (Kor)
02.30Andrew McLardy (Rsa), Geoff Ogilvy (Aus), Scott Strange (Aus)
02.40Peter Hanson (Swe), Charl Schwartzel (Rsa), Felipe Aguilar (Chi)
02.50Ross Fisher, Ben Leong (Mal), Wen-Tang Lin (Tai)
03.00Robert Karlsson (Swe), Padraig Harrington, Thomas Levet (Fra)
03.10Ian Poulter, Damien McGrane, Prayad Marksaeng (Tha)
03.20 Peter Lawrie, Gregory Bourdy (Fra), Oliver Wilson
03.30Marc Cayeux (Zim), Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott (Aus)
03.40Sergio Garcia (Spa), Anthony Kim, Henrik Stenson (Swe)
Starting at hole 10
01.45Gui Ming Liao (Chn), Trevor Immelman (Rsa)
01.55 Darren Clarke, Joong Kyung Mo (Kor), Soren Kjeldsen (Den)
02.05Andrew Bonhomme (Aus), Chapchai Nirat (Tha), Wei-Huang Wu (Tpe)
02.15Ashun Wu (Chn), Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa), Jean Hugo (Rsa)
02.25Wen Teh Lu (Tpe), Sang-moon Bae (Kor), Martin Kaymer (Ger)
02.35Alastair Forsyth, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra), James Kingston (Rsa)
02.45Rick Kulacz (Aus), Camilo Villegas (Col), David Dixon
02.55Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa), Angelo Que (Phi), Hao Yuan (Chn)
03.05David Horsey, Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha), Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind)
03.15Gregory Havret (Fra), David Gleeson (Aus), Chao Li (Chn)
03.25Scott Hend (Aus), John Bickerton, Kangchun Wu (Chn)
03.35Inn-choon Hwang (Kor), James Kamte (Rsa), Pablo Larrazabal (Spa)
03.45Bryan Saltus, David Howell, Shaun Norris (Rsa)
