Scott Hend fired an opening 66 to open up a one-shot lead on day one of the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.
The eighth Rolex Series title of the season and the Harry Vardon trophy are both up for grabs this week as the European Tour brings down the curtain on a dramatic 2017 campaign at Jumeirah Golf Estates.
Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose and Sergio Garcia are the only players who can still win the season-long title but for Australian Hend, the aim is a third European Tour trophy and he made seven birdies and a bogey to get to six under.
Playing partner Alexander Björk was then a shot back, one ahead of David Horsey, Søren Kjeldsen, Andy Sullivan and Julian Suri.
Fleetwood and Garcia were two over and Rose at level par in the very early stages of their rounds.
Hend birdied the first and fourth but then rattled off a hat-trick of gains from the tenth to jump out into the on-course lead with Sullivan and Suri in the clubhouse.
Further birdies on the 14th and 15th had him three ahead but he drove into the water on the last to surrender a closing bogey.
Swede Björk turned in 35 with three birdies and two bogeys but three birdies in a row from the 11th catapulted him up the leaderboard before he made a closing gain.
Suri made his European Tour debut less than 12 months ago at the Australian PGA Championship and has since then won the D+D REAL Czech Challenge on the Challenge Tour and the Made In Denmark.
He made it into this week at 59th in the Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex and continued to make the very most of his excellent debut campaign.
The American started with a bogey but then birdied the second and third before dropping a shot on the fourth. Back-to-back birdies on the seventh and eighth saw him turn in 34 and he doubled up again on the 15th and 16th to get to four under.
England's Sullivan was the runner-up here two years ago and made a birdie-birdie start before dropping a shot on the third. Gains were to follow on the sixth, eighth and tenth as he made a positive start to the week.
Countryman Horsey turned in 35 with birdies on the fourth and eighth sandwiching a bogey on the seventh. He birdied the 13th and 15th and when he added another on the last, he briefly shared the clubhouse lead.
Dane Kjeldsen bogeyed the fifth but a good recovery saw him join the group at four under with birdies on the seventh, eighth, 11th and 14th.
American Patrick Reed was also four under having played 12 holes.
Shane Lowry was in the clubhouse at three under with Nicolas Colsaerts, Andrew Dodt and Fabrizio Zanotti out on the course.
Ian Poulter and Paul Waring made it into this week due to Rory McIlroy and Henrik Stenson being missing through injury and both signed for rounds of 70 in the first group out to sit in a group of 16 players at two under.
