Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Marcus Fraser and Jaco Van Zyl set the clubhouse target on day one of the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai but it was David Horsey who flew out of the blocks at Jumeirah Golf Estates.
The Englishman is in a rich vein of form, making his last eight cuts and securing a tie for second two weeks ago at the Turkish Airlines Open as the Final Series got under way.
The Final Series and the 2016 European Tour season reaches its conclusion this week and while Horsey cannot win the Race to Dubai, he could claim the biggest win of his career in the United Arab Emirates.
Henrik Stenson, Danny Willett, Alex Noren and Rory McIlroy are the men who may be crowned European Number One on Sunday and they were in the very early stages of their rounds, with McIlroy dropping a shot on the first.
That left him five shots behind Horsey, who had played his first 11 holes four under par with birdies on the third, fifth, eighth and tenth.
Aphibarnrat was a two-time winner in 2015 but has just two top tens this season, and he recovered from a bogey on the first with birdies on the fifth, 12th, 14th and 17th to sign for a 69.
Van Zyl joined him at three under in the clubhouse with five birdies and two bogeys, while Fraser had six birdies - including one on the last - on his card.
Frenchman Victor Dubuisson had been leading the way at five under but bogeys on the 16th and 17th left him in a tie for second coming up the last.
Countryman Julien Quesne was also in that group alongside Nicolas Colsaerts, Matthew Fitzpatrick and Francesco Molinari.
Mikko Ilonen and Renato Paratore were in the clubhouse at two under, a shot clear of Spaniard Pablo Larrazábal.
