England’s Anthony Wall took an early lead as many of the players out first got off to shaky starts in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Club.

Wall reached two under par through eight holes, but only 12 of the first 42 players out were under par and almost half had dropped shots already.

The Englishman birdied the par five fourth and the 401 yard eighth without dropping a shot to carve out a one shot advantage.

No fewer than 11 players had gathered behind Wall, however, including last year’s Order of Merit winner Robert Karlsson, former The Open Championship winner Ben Curtis and The Ryder Cup player Paul McGinley.

Also one under in the early stages were Wall’s compatriots Ross Fisher, David Horsey and Nick Dougherty, three of Karlsson’s fellow Swede’s – Niclas Fasth, Peter Hanson and Alexander Noren – Spain’s Alejandro Canizares and India’s S S P Chowrasia.