Scotland's Grant Forrest found himself in a five-way tie at the top of the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open leaderboard following a low-scoring first round at Heritage Golf Club.
Forrest carded an eagle, six birdies and two bogeys in an opening 66 to join Frenchmen Benjamin Hebert and Romain Langasque, South Africa's Brandon Stone and Danish rookie Rasmus Hojgaard on six-under-par.
Starting from the 10th tee, Forrest - who finished in a tie for seventh at this event last year - made a dream start to his round on Thursday, reeling off birdies at each of his first three holes.
That run came to an end when the 26-year-old dropped a shot at the short 13th but he recovered in style, firing an eagle at the 14th before finishing his front nine with a birdie on the long 18th.
Forrest then sandwiched a bogey on the fourth with birdies at the second and seventh to grab a share of the lead.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout was in the nine-man group one shot behind the leaders, with Scots Connor Syme, David Law and Calum Hill a stroke further back on four under.
