Scotland's Connor Syme played himself into contention to make up for last week's near miss at Celtic Manor with an opening 66 at the same venue in the ISPS Handa Wales Open.
Syme carded seven birdies and two bogeys to claim a share of the lead with England's Jordan Smith on five under par, with Robert MacIntyre, Sebastian Soderberg, Callum Shinkwin and Kurt Kitayama sharing third place on three under.
Syme held a one-shot lead after 54 holes of the Celtic Classic but had to settle for a share of third place following a final round of 71 which was compiled either side of a two-hour lightning delay.
"We were thinking a little bit about how they might change the golf course but the wind has certainly done that for us - a completely different direction and a lot stronger," the 25-year-old said.
"It was a good round, I had to plan my way around differently but I did that and holed a few nice putts which was a bonus.
"I took a lot of confidence from last week. It was a new experience for me having a 54-hole lead and I really enjoyed it. I'm trying to get back into those positions as much as I can.
"It's a long way to go and I think tomorrow is going to be a tough day (with bad weather) so it's just like jockeying for position a little bit the first two days, but I'm up the top end of the leaderboard, which is good, and can hopefully kick on a little bit tomorrow."
It was a day to forget for the Irish competitors, all of whom will have to improve if they're to see action over the weekend.
Jonathan Caldwell is the best of them on +1 as he rallied slightly with three birdies on the back nine for a round of 71, while Cormac Sharvin sits on +2 after his round of 73.
Paul Dunne is a shot further back on +3 as his three birdies were cancelled out by six bogeys, while Gavin Moynihan really struggled and failed to birdie a single hole as he finished on +6.
