Ashun Wu matched his lowest round on the DP World Tour in almost four years as a flawless 63 earned him a one-shot lead after a low-scoring first round at the Omega European Masters.
The Chinese star has struggled for consistency this season but was firing on all cylinders on Thursday as he made seven birdies over the par-70 Severiano Ballesteros Course at Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club.
That saw him post his best score since the opening round of the Open de España presented by Madrid in 2022 and edge ahead of a five-strong group of players that included defending champion Thriston Lawrence, Angel Ayora, Shubhankar Sharma, Nicolai von Dellingshausen and Todd Clements.
Wu comes into the week 127th in the Race to Dubai Rankings Delivered by DP World, needing a strong finish to his season to climb into the top 100 and retain his playing privileges for the 2027 season.
The last of his five DP World Tour titles came on home soil two years ago, but he was feeling at ease in the altitude of Crans-Montana where he finished in the top ten in both 2017 and 2018.
"I was very happy to come back here, to play the tournament, and what a lovely place," he said.
"Everything was going pretty well [with my game]."
After a birdie at the second, Wu closed out his front nine with a hat-trick of birdies but at that stage he was still two shots adrift of the clubhouse lead.
The 41-year-old began his back nine with a series of pars before he found his mojo again, following a 53-feet birdie putt at the par three 13th with birdies at both the par five 14th and 15th to hit the summit on his own.
He safely parred his way home in stress-free fashion, revealing his hopes he is reaping the rewards for working on his game during the recent summer break on the schedule.
"I was working on my swing, with my coach in the US, and working pretty hard [too]," he added.
"I feel a lot of better with my swing, and I am just looking forward to playing another couple of rounds."
Two-time champion Lawrence appeared most likely to set the pace on the opening day when he fired six front-nine birdies, but his momentum stalled on the back nine as he settled for a bogey-free 64.
Victory this week would see the South African become the first player since Severiano Ballesteros to win the tournament on three occassions since it formed part of the DP World Tour's inaugural season in 1972.
Despite the exquisite start to his round, largely through stellar approach play, his par at the par five 14th after his original tee shot went out of bounds [OB] will likely be just as much a source of satisfaction.
"No reds on the back nine but I would have taken a 64 before the round," he reflected.
"Pity about the OB on 14 but that's going to happen, you're going to give something to the course and you're going to get some [breaks]. I'm very happy."
Another player to have a clean scorecard was Spaniard Ayora, who followed two birdies on the front nine with four across his final six holes to finish his day with plenty of reason for optimism.
The 21-year-old, who is regarded as one of the finest emerging talents, has seen his form fade over the summer but he is hopeful strides made in practice will soon have him back challenging for a breakthrough DP World Tour victory.
"Bogey free, it's always good," he reflected. Today, I did everything very well. My putting was good, hit the ball pretty good, because I've been struggling a bit, hitting the ball the last few months.
"But I found something, so maybe, hopefully, it's going to be good for my long game."
Von Dellingshausen recovered from a bogey on his opening hole, to mix five birdies with an eagle at the 14th in his 64.
The German, who became a father earlier this year, has his six-month-old son and wife, Ilka, with him in Switzerland this week and he admitted to coming into his round after a difficult night's sleep.
"I really switched on in the morning, didn't have a great night's sleep, to be fair," he said.
"My wife and my six-month-old are both here, and he's having his first teeth right now, so that's a little bit of a wild story at night.
"I did hurt my back a little bit on 17 because I chunked my t-shot a touch with a hybrid.
"So it kind of went a little bit differently on the back nine. I had to scramble a lot more, but hold a couple of really good putts, held it together, which was really nice, and made a couple of birdies coming in."
Sharma, who regained his tour card for this season through Qualifying School, won earlier this year in his homeland on the Professional Golf Tour of India but is without a top 20 to his name on the DP World Tour.
However, he was another to capitalise on picture perfect scoring conditions as he made three birdies on both nines to sit among the nearest challengers to Wu.
"I played really well today," said the two-time DP World Tour winner. "Just found the groove after a long time and the weather was amazing, which really helped.
"I was just tired of the rain from the last couple of weeks, and it was nice to have some sunshine, and it was quite a smooth round."
Clements, who was in the first group of the day, mixed an eagle at the 14th, with six birdies and two bogeys on his way to an eventful six under total.
Having finished tied second at the Corales Puntacana Championship in July, narrowly missing out on becoming a PGA Tour winner, the Englishman is feeling confident about his game despite a missed cut last week at The Belfry.
"It just gives you that self belief that you can do it, that you belong out here," said the 30-year-old, who won on the DP World Tour in the Czech Republic in 2023.
"Those things just reaffirm my own self confidence, and I think moving forward to the Back 9 now and through to the end of the year, I hope for good things to come."
Eugenio Chacarra, a two-time winner this season, was then among a group of players at five under that also included English pair Harry Hall and Jack Yule, Germany's Jeremy Paul and Sweden's Nicklas Lemke.
