Maximilian Kieffer was loving life on home soil as he fired a roller coaster opening 67 to put himself right in the mix after day one of the BMW International Open.
The German set the very early pace on day one at Golfclub München Eichenried, birdieing his first four holes and adding another at the 15th after starting on the tenth.
He then bogeyed the first, second and fourth to tumble back but hit back with gains on the fifth, sixth and ninth to finish the day at five under.
Kieffer's victory at last season's D+D Real Czech Masters kickstarted a run that saw countrymen Yannik Paul, Marcel Siem and Nick Bachem all claim DP World Tour wins for Germany.
That success has clearly ignited the home fans in Munich this week and Kieffer is delighted to be teeing it up in his favourite event.
“This is by far my favourite tournament," he said. "It’s got so much history, it’s a special place here, it’s always got such a good atmosphere and I’m trying to enjoy it as much as I can.
"It’s tough, there’s always pressure but I definitely want to enjoy it and today I did a good job of enjoying the day.
“Five under is a good start. You always want a good start in your home tournament to carry some momentum into the next few rounds.
"I had an awesome start, five under after six, then I struggled a bit and went back to two under but I’m very proud of myself that I fought back and managed to play those last few holes in three under.
“It’s playing fairly easy because the greens are fairly soft and the rough isn’t as high as it used to be. It’s been quite warm here so they couldn’t quite grow it.
"The pin positions are the main defence of the golf course and they were quite tough today. You had lots of chances but if you missed the shots then you could get in trouble with quite a few holes. It’s always an interesting course here."
