Justin Rose was satisfied with an opening 67 at the BMW Masters as he attempts to displace long-time leader Rory McIlroy at the top of The Race to Dubai.
With the Northern Irishman not playing this week at Lake Malaren Golf Club, Rose knows that a top-two finish would see him overtake his fellow former US Open champion in the standings.
A 67 on the first day in Shanghai left Rose just three shots behind leader Sergio Garcia and, perhaps crucially, five ahead of fellow Race to Dubai hopeful Danny Willett.
The 28 year old, who is McIlroy's nearest rival, cut a frustrated figure as he shot a level par 72 which left him not only behind Rose but also Shane Lowry and Louis Oosthuizen.
Rose appears to be finding his form at the right time after his recent victory at the UBS Hong Kong Open and the Englishman was content with his progress as he seeks to top the European Tour standings for a second time.
"I played okay today," he said. "Only one under through 11, though, and I could see a lot of the other guys were going low today and tried to urge myself to get it to three or four under for the round, and actually beat my own expectations and finished five under for the round.
"I'm very happy with how I played the last seven or eight holes, and it was a good day's work in the end.
Any time you shoot five under, it's a good round. You can't have it all go your way every day, but I'd call that a good, solid opening round, consistent golf - Justin Rose
Willett had four birdies and four bogeys in his round and while he admitted it was not what he was looking for, the Englishman preferred to focus on the bigger picture in terms of The Race to Dubai.
"Regardless of what happens this week, whoever wins this week, if we win next week, we're going to win The Race to Dubai," he said. "It's one of those where people are saying, 'you need to finish so-and-so'. But it also comes down to next week.
"It's nice to get a bit of momentum going for next week but at the end of the day, if you win next week, then you get the job done.
"It's going to be good fun regardless what happens and the position you're in. It's going to be a great week and a great experience to have a chance.
"There's not loads of guys that can obviously say they have had a chance to do it and each year there's two or three.
"Rory wrapped it up quite early last year, but this year there's probably four or five people that probably still have a chance of doing it.
"We are just going to try to keep battling and try to get a bit of momentum going into next week."
