Retief Goosen underlined why he is top seed in the World Match Play Championship when he opened with a emphatic 8 and 7 win over Kenneth Ferrie.
It set him up with a second round clash with Aussie Mark Hensby who surprisingly saw off Colin Montgomerie 2 and 1.
Goosen is attempting to win his third straight tournament after victories in China and the German Masters last week.
However he does not consider himself favourite. "I think Cabrera (Angel), guys that have done well around this golf course in the past are sort of more the guys you should be worried about," he said.
Meanwhile, Dubliner Paul McGinley hopes destiny can take him all the way to a £1million jackpot at Wentworth this weekend.
The 38-year-old beat Thomas Bjorn six and five and next meets Ryder Cup team-mate Luke Donald, who had an even more convincing seven and six victory over Bernhard Langer.
"I was the last man in and hopefully I'll be the last man standing," said McGinley. "Maybe fate and destiny is on my side," added McGinley, who is making his debut in the event, four months after finishing runner-up in the BMW Championship on the same course.
Luke Donald hammered Bernhard Langer, who a year ago showed how highly he rated him by giving him a Ryder Cup wild card. Donald never looked back from taking four of the first six holes against the 48-year-old German, who first appeared in the championship way back in 1981.
The other all-European first round clash was between David Howell - another first-timer - and Jose Maria Olazabal and it went the Spaniard's way thanks to a magnificient closing eagle three.
Olazabal hit a fairway wood to seven feet to shut out Howell and line up a match with second seed Angel Cabrera, winner of the BMW Championship on the course in May.
