England’s Chris Wood made a storming start to the Omega European Masters at Crans-sur-Sierre in Switzerland.

The 21 year old, twice a top-five finisher in The Open Championship, birdied four of his first eight holes in the Swiss Alps to open up an early first round advantage.

Wood started at the tenth tee and enjoyed consecutive birdies at the 12th and 13th before repeating the trick at the par three 16th and 386 yard 17th.

That left him a shot clear of Italy’s Alessandro Tadini, Swede Klas Eriksson, Spaniard Ignacio Garrido and Grégory Bourdy of France, all of whom reached three under during their opening rounds.

Among the group a shot further back was Graeme McDowell, who began his bid to keep his Ryder Cup place exactly how he wanted - with a birdie.

The 30 year old Northern Irishman, well aware that the number of automatic places in Colin Montgomerie's team next year is down from ten to nine, was among the early starters at Crans-sur-Sierre.