Australian golfer Steven Bowditch shot an eight-under-par opening round of 64 to be one shot off the lead at the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions event in Shanghai on Thursday.
Former world No.1 Adam Scott struggled though and has a share of 75th following an opening-round 75.
Bowditch shot nine birdies but had one bogey as he took a share of second, along with Kevin Kisner and Thorbjorn Olesen.
The conditions were so soft on Thursday that first-round leader Branden Grace was not surprised by his nine-under 63.
"Barely had a breath of wind out there and the golf course is playing probably as easy as it could be playing," Grace said.
"There's some low scores out there. The guys are playing some great golf and when you play on greens like this, it helps.
"You just have to get the ball on the right line, and it goes in."
The South African made it sound simple and it seemed to feel that way to almost everyone.
One player it wasn't easy for though was Australia's former world No.1 Scott, who shot a three-over-par 75 to be tied for 75th (third last).
Thirty players were at 68 or better, including a group that included Jordan Spieth, defending champion Bubba Watson and Rory McIlroy, who finally made it to the course after battling food poisoning all week.
Dustin Johnson, who won this World Golf Championship two years ago the last time he was here, drilled a three-wood over the water and onto the green for an eagle on the par-five second hole on his way to a 67.
Danny Willett, second to McIlroy in the Race to Dubai, and Patrick Reed also were at 67.
Only 13 players in the 78-man field were over par. That included Scott, who could have been one shot worse if rules officials had not deducted a penalty shot because of the wrong ruling given to him.
Players were allowed to lift, clean and place their golf balls because of rain in the forecast, and only after Scott did that short of the sixth green did he look back and realise his ball had been in a slight cut of rough.
Scott was told to replay his shot, which was the wrong ruling. Officials referred to a decision based on equity that allowed only for the two-shot penalty, and thus he kept his double bogey. Not that it helped his round as he shot 75.
McIlroy said he lost 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms) this week because of food poisoning and he had spent most of the past 48 hours in bed at his hotel. He needed extra time to warm up on the range because he felt so stiff, but he looked back to normal once he got on the golf course.
"Probably a little better than I was expecting out there, to be honest," McIlroy said.
"Thankfully, it was a decent start and now going to try to just get into the tournament."
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