Jon Rahm may have been making his debut at the BMW PGA Championship but he felt right at home as he shot an opening 66 at Wentworth Golf Club.
The Spaniard is seeking a record fourth Rolex Series title in Surrey and birdied four of his last five holes to sit just one shot behind leader Matt Wallace after 18 holes.
In just over three years as a professional, the 24-year-old has proved himself to be a truly international force, but he admitted he will always feel at home in Europe after tackling the West Course in the European Tour's flagship event.
"I am European," he said. "I do live in the States but it's where I grew up.
"I love these type of golf courses where I grew up in Spain. We have a lot of courses like this where you have tree-lined, not long, and you can be aggressive, you can be passive.
"It's just more where I grew up playing I'm comfortable on and every time I come back, it's a good time.
"I played a good front nine and I came out on the back nine just wanting to just play good and stay shot by shot. I made those three birdies in a row and didn't think about it too much.
"I know you still have to hit good shots. It's easy to look at the scorecard and see par five, par five coming in but those are two difficult par fives to make birdies. I'm just happy I finished this strong."
Henrik Stenson also made a strong finish, eagling the last to sit alongside Rahm at six under.
"Looking back at my career, I don't think I've been having too many wins and too many really good finishes when I haven't started with a decent round or better," he said. "It sets up the week nicely and I just hope I can continue with that.
"I've got a few things that I'm working on in terms of processes and that's all I can control. Hopefully we keep on scoring well at the same time."
