Jamie Donaldson fired a brilliant round of 62 to take a one-shot lead after day one of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic.
The Welshman entered the Andalucia Valderrama Masters hosted by the Sergio Garcia Foundation last season in a battle to avoid burning his career earnings exemption to keep his card but a fourth-place finish moved him to 99th in the Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex.
He was making the most of that reprieve at Emirates Golf Club, carding an eagle and nine birdies before dropping a shot on the ninth - his last - to sit at ten under, a single stroke ahead of English duo David Horsey and Anthony Wall.
Another Englishman in Tyrrell Hatton was then at eight under with two-time winner Rory McIlroy in the group a further shot back alongside Swede Alexander Björk, Dane Lasse Jensen, England's Chris Paisley and Belgian Thomas Pieters.
At 11 under with two to play, Donaldson admitted the thought of a 59 had crept into his mind but the 42 year old was just pleased to rediscover some of the form that has brought him three European Tour wins.
"I'm not going to lie to you, I was thinking about it," he said. "I birdied five and then started thinking, 'if i just birdie them all coming in, then I've done it'.
"Sometimes you're best not thinking and just keep playing but I was picturing birdieng them all and then jumping in the lake on the last."
He added: "I'm stood here at ten under which I'm very happy with.
"I had tennis elbow for a year and a half, that wasn't very nice, but you've just got to try and play through these things. I took three months off at the end of 2016 trying to get myself right and it didn't work. Now it's gone, I feel fully fit.
"I've been working on my game, trying to find the form that I've found in the past.
"Everything worked perfectly today."
I've been working on my game, trying to find the form that I've found in the past. Everything worked perfectly today - Jamie Donaldson
He birdied the tenth and 12th, eagled the par five 13th and when he made gains on the 17th and 18th, he had turned in 31.
Another birdie on the second maintained his momentum and when he holed a good putt through the fringe on the fourth, hit an excellent approach into the fifth and sank an 18-footer on the next, the course record was in sight.
An almost ace on the seventh had him on track to equal Ernie Els' 24 year old record of 61 and the whispers of a 59 began circulating around the course.
He did well to par the next after sending his tee-shot right into the desert but could not repeat the feat on the ninth after finding a bunker off the tee.
Horsey birdied the second and third and, while he dropped a shot on the fourth, four gains in a row from the seventh put him right in the mix.
Further birdies on the 13th and 14th had him in a share of the lead and when he hit an excellent approach into the 17th and capitalised on the par five last, he led by two from the rest of the morning starters.
Wall started on the tenth and birdied his opener, the 12th, 13th and 18th but came to life on the front nine, making four in a row from the second and adding another on the eighth.
Hatton made a blistering start, birdieing the second and eagling the third, and birdies on the fifth and eighth meant he turned in 30.
The back nine is considered the more gettable side of the course but Hatton picked up just three more shots on the tenth, 14th and 17th.
Jensen had set the pace with a single bogey in his 65 and that was a popular score in the morning, with newly-crowned BMW SA Open hosted by the City of Ekurhuleni champion Paisley and Björk joining him.
Northern Irishman McIlroy then recorded his third bogey-free round from five in 2018 to join the group, with Pieters also bogey-free and making four birdies in a row from the second.
South African duo Darren Fichardt and Haydn Porteous, Irishman Paul Dunne, Spaniard Miguel Ángel Jiménez and China's Li Haotong were then at six under, a shot clear of a group containing defending champion Sergio Garcia.
