Jannik de Bruyn fired an opening nine under par 62 to take the lead after round one of the Open de Portugal.
De Bruyn made eight birdies and an eagle around PGA Aroeira 1 on Thursday, with just one blemish on the card putting him a stroke clear of Swede Adam Wallin.
The German was pleased with his ability to keep the ball in good positions throughout the opening round in Lisbon.
“I didn’t find any trouble out there which made it a very easy going round,” he said.
“I had plenty of very good wedges which makes it easy to make birdies, and I also holed one which makes life even easier. I’m very pleased with the start of the tournament.”
The 27-year-old opened his account with a birdie on the 10th, before his standout moment came at the 12th hole when he holed a wedge from the fairway for an eagle two, getting him to three under in as many holes.
De Bruyn made three more twos throughout his round, with his wedge play proving pivotal on day one.
“I had 108 metres and hit a smooth gap wedge that spun back into the hole which was very pleasant because it was my third hole so it got the round going, and then I hit a few more wedges close,” he added.
“I think that was the strongest part of my game and as I said makes life easier.”
Playing in the afternoon wave, De Bruyn faced slightly tougher conditions than the morning presented, with the wind picking up as the day progressed.
But the German was unphased, on a course that he said suited his eye.
“I grew up on a treeline course which is why I very much like these kind of courses, especially over here in Portugal and Spain.
“The conditions didn’t affect me at all. Hole nine was pretty tough into the wind, but the rest was pretty playable, the greens were quite soft so you could really attack the pins.
“I feel it’s like a typical golf course and I really enjoy spending time here so that’s why I probably felt a bit more comfortable today. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
De Bruyn came into the Open de Portugal off the back of his fourth top ten of the season last week at the English Trophy, where he finished in a tie for seventh.
He sits 44th in the Road to Mallorca Rankings and says he is building off the momentum of a solid week last time out.
“I actually missed the past three events prior to England because I was injured, so I didn’t have any expectations which kind of helped last week.
“Today it was kind of the same, I didn’t really expect much, which helped me going out there quite freely and that’s what I’ll keep doing.”
Englishman David Horsey led the morning wave, with his seven under par leaving him in a share of third with Sweden’s Tobias Jensen Eden and Denmark’s Sebastian Friedrichsen.
Round two of the Open de Portugal begins on Friday at 7:40am local time, with de Bruyn teeing off alongside Switzerland’s Fiorino Clerici and Michael Feuerstein from the U.S.A.
