Swede Johan Carlsson took full advantage of the new improved greens at Wentworth by firing a pacesetting six-under 66 in the first round of the $7 million BMW PGA Championship.
The 30-year-old picked up five strokes in a blistering outward half of 30 before three back-nine birdies were partially offset by bogeys at the 10th and 18th.
Swedish star Henrik Stenson was handily placed on 68, one behind Italy's Francesco Molinari, Kiradech Aphibarnrat of Thailand and Scott Jamieson of Scotland.
The Wentworth greens were dug up and re-seeded after last year's tournament to make them less bumpy, a frequent complaint of the players in the past.
Four of the 18 putting surfaces were also reshaped while five more were partially rebuilt.
"They are so good," said Carlsson of the changes. "I love this golf course right now.
"It has become so much better and I think a lot of the other players probably agree with me," he said.
The Swede said the key to his performance on Thursday was the way he played down the importance of the European Tour's flagship competition.
"It's a big event and you kind of feel it a little bit with the atmosphere," he explained.
"I decided before I went out that I was just going to try to break it down and make it small."
British Open winner Stenson made rapid strides with four birdies on the inward half but said it had been tricky to read some of the greens at the start.
"The first year, before everything settles in, there are a lot of little breaks and I had a hard time finding the right lines early on but I got a couple in on the back nine and kept it pretty tidy," said the Swede.
As for the Australian contingent, Queenslander Andrew Dodt leads the way after a two-under 70 left him four shots off Carlsson.
Dodt was hot on the front nine with three birdies and had another on the par-three 10th before bogeys at par fours 13 and 16 brought him back to the field.
Fellow Queenslander Scott Hend had an up and down round to finish one-under along with Marcus Fraser.
Hend's two early bogeys were offset by five birdies mid-round but a double bogey on 15 dropped him back.
Fraser made an eagle at the par-five 12th hole but three bogeys on par-fours hurt his chances.
It was a day to forget for West Australian Brett Rumford who not only is in last-place on 11-over but managed three double bogeys and closed with a quadruple bogey nine on the par-five 18th hole.
Several competitors wore black ribbons in tribute to the 22 people killed after the suicide bombing in Manchester earlier this week.
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