Bernd Wiesberger was delighted to master the conditions and put himself in a strong position on day one of the Volvo China Open.
Hennie Otto took advantage of calm morning conditions at Topwin Golf and Country Club to shoot an excellent 63 and fire himself to the top of the leaderboard, a position where he would not be caught by the end of play.
With the wind getting up in the afternoon, it looked as if fellow early starters Grégory Bourdy, Peter Hanson, Roope Kakko and Fabrizio Zanotti were going to be Otto's closest challengers with their rounds of 66.
But Austrian Wiesberger joined them at six under and then made a birdie on the last to claim second outright, and is hoping to take advantage of easier early conditions on day two.
"It feels like a much better score than it actually was," he said. "It was really tough out there, really windy for most of the day and I thought something just under par would be really good going out.
"I played nicely, good shots and good putts every now and then with a couple of longer ones.
I felt really comfortable with the golf ball so all in all it was a really good day for me - Bernd Wiesberger
"I wasn't thinking about nine under, I was thinking about the next shot. For most of the day I kept it going, just had one or two bad shots. All in all, given the conditions, it was really good and a really important day for me.
"It's a course to my liking and I'm looking forward to tomorrow morning."
Hanson admitted that the early starters benefited from the calmer conditions, and was happy to get off to a good start as he attempts to rediscover the form that earned him Ryder Cup qualification in 2010 and 2012.
"We were a little bit lucky with the draw," he said. "The wind was down this morning and you can kind of be aggressive and take aim.
"But it's one of those, if you end up on the wrong side, the wind gets up and you hit a great shot and a great chip, instead of putting from four or five feet, you're putting from 45 over two mounds so it's tough. It will be challenging to play four really solid rounds of golf.
"The game is heading in the right direction again after a couple of slow years. In the Middle East I was very happy with the way my progress went and I keep working at all parts of my game. Everything is getting better and now it's just about staying patient and putting four solid rounds together."
