Thorbjørn Olesen was delighted to begin his World Golf Championships - HSBC Champions campaign with an eight under par 64 but admitted he was thinking about going even lower.
The Dane flew out of the blocks at Sheshan International Golf Club with five birdies in his first six holes and he picked up another shot on the eighth to reach the turn in 30. Another birdie followed on the tenth but a bogey on the par five 14th slowed his progress before two closing birdies moved him one shot behind first round leader Branden Grace.
Olesen's form has been improved since his win at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in October but the 25 year old admitted he thought there was even more to come on Thursday.
"It was brilliant, I really had it going down the front nine," he said.
I think after nine, I thought about that 60 number but hit a couple of bad shots on the back nine - Thorbjørn Olesen
"Overall I played really, really well. Holed some good putts also, obviously. It was a really solid round.
"I like this golf course. It suits my eye and is in great condition."
Patrick Reed was a shot behind Olesen at seven under and the American was happy to get round without a bogey in his opening round.
"Coming into this week, I felt like I'd been hitting the ball pretty solid," he said. "It was another one of those days where I felt like I could have hit the ball better but luckily I made a lot of solid putts that you need to make to keep your round going.
"It just seems like any time you can play bogey-free it always helps."
The 25 year old is no stranger to tasting glory at WGC events after his victory at the 2014 Cadillac Championship but he insists he does not approach them any differently.
"Any time you tee it up, you almost have to treat the Majors and the World Golf Championships just like they are a regular event," he said.
"The more pressure you put on yourself, you're going to end up hitting looser shots, pressing too much and making that big number.
"As long as you can keep yourself away from that and play aggressively to conservative lines, you leave yourself a lot of putts and have chances."
