Wade Ormsby will take a one shot lead into the second round of the Scandinavian Invitation after firing a brilliant eagle and six birdies in his bogey free 62.
Morning starter Ormsby enjoyed a long spell at the top of the leaderboard on Thursday after following up his early burst of scoring with a closing birdie to finish the day on eight under par, one shot clear of home favourite Joakim Lagergren and Frenchman Alexander Levy.
Many of the lowest scores were posted by the early wave on Thursday, with Lagergren's 63, which contained seven birdies and no bogeys, the best round of the afternoon.
Englishman Matt Fitzpatrick was alone in fourth following his sparkling 64, which is the joint lowest opening round of his European Tour career.
Ormsby is chasing his second European Tour title this week after winning the opening event of the 2018 season, the UBS Hong Kong Open, in November 2017.
He got off to a strong start on day one at Hills Golf & Sports Club, picking up his first birdie at the 12th - his third hole - before holing his approach into the 14th with a four iron for a spectacular eagle.
The 39-year-old then reeled off three consecutive birdies at the 16th, 17th and 18th to reach the turn in 28.
Ormsby grabbed the outright lead when he got up and down from a greenside bunker at the long third hole for a birdie to move to seven under par.
The Australian was briefly caught at the top of the leaderboard after Levy rounded off his round with a birdie at the ninth - his last - but Ormsby also finished his round with a birdie to lead on his own.
"I made a pretty straight birdie on the 12th and then at the 14th I was in between a five and a four iron, picked the right one and boxed it, so then I just got a bit of momentum through the final holes," said Ormsby.
"I felt quite comfortable out there, I was holing my return putts and that kept the round going, which added up to 62."
Lagergren started brightly, with birdies at the second, third and seventh taking him to the turn in 33.
Roared on by the home crowd, he picked up further shots at 11th and 14th before rolling in his monster putt from around 30 feet at the 16th for another gain.
Lagergren closed his round with another birdie at the long 18th to join early starter Levy in a share of second on seven under.
He said: "I played very nicely today. It is always nice when you play great at home.
"It is one of those tournaments where you really want to play well in front of the crowds and if you play bad you get so disappointed, so it’s really nice to get this good round in at the beginning."
Levy got off to a blistering start on Thursday morning, opening his round with back to back birdies at the tenth and 11th before taking advantage of the par three 13th and 15th.
He closed his front nine with two more birdies at the 17th and 18th to jump to six under.
Another birdie followed at the long third but Levy dropped a shot at the next before finishing his first round with a birdie from around eight feet at the ninth to return to seven under.
Adam Bland produced the 23rd hole-in-one of the European Tour season when he holed a seven iron at the tenth to win a Volkswagen Touareg V6 TDI 4 Motion.
