Jonathan Caldwell produced a near-perfect round to sit one shot off the lead at the end of the first round of the Hero Open at Fairmont St Andrews.
Caldwell, who won his first European Tour title in the Scandinavian Mixed last month, had missed the cut in his last four starts but bounced back with a 64 which included an eagle and seven birdies.
A bogey on the second hole was the only blemish for the Bangor man who is a shot behind leader Calum Hill (63) and level with Ross Fisher, Robin Sciot-Siegrist and American Chase Hanna who all sit on -7.
"I'm delighted," Caldwell said. "Especially with recent form, it hasn't been so good. Delighted that a bit of the work I've done over the last week or so with my coach at home is paying off. Hopefully I can keep going forward.
"I had the week off after (Sweden) and came straight back out and played Germany. I played okay but didn't feel it was quite there. Then you're always looking for something.
"It's like a pendulum, you go one way with something and you've got to get back to where you were. Slowly getting back to where I was from Sweden form.
"I suppose (the win) takes a bit of the pressure off after missing four cuts in a row, that I don't have to put pressure on myself to have good weeks to get the money up.
"Having those exemptions, knowing I'm in the big events with the big prize funds and the bigger points, it does take a bit of the pressure off but I still put pressure on myself to play well, make cuts and play well at the weekend."
Gavin Moynihan is next best of the Irish on -2 after his round of 70, while Niall Kearney is a shot further back on -1. Cormac Sharvin finished the day on +1, while Tom McCribben and Paul Dunne both had a day to forget and sit on +7.
