England's James Morrison lies a shot off the lead after the opening day of the Soudal Open after enjoying a welcome return to form in Antwerp while there was a mixed day for Irish duo John Murphy and Gavin Hurley.
Morrison has missed the cut in six of his 10 events in 2023 and recorded his best finish of 46th in January, but carded six birdies in a flawless 65 to share second place with compatriot Andrew Wilson, Marcel Siem and Jens Dantorp.
Sweden’s Simon Forsstrom, who won the DP World Tour qualifying school last year, leads the way on seven under after a bogey-free 64 at Rinkven International Golf Club.
Murphy carded a round of 69 to sit six shots off the pace.
The Cork man picked up a birdie at the fourth as he holed a 12-foot putt before picking up another birdie at the 10th.
An errant tee shot into the native area on 16 resulted in his first bogey of the day, but despite again going right off the tee on the next hole, he was able to birdie the par-five 17th
Hurley faces a fight to make the cut after finishing on two-over par.
Starting on the 10th hole, Hurley birdied the 11th, but the rest of his round contained five bogeys and just two more birdies.
"It feels very, very good considering the golf I've been playing the last eight, nine months," Morrison said.
"It was a good day to play that well and was really enjoyable. It’s been a pretty slow start to the year. It has been coming, but the hardest thing in golf is patience and waiting for it.
"Length isn’t one of my strengths, but you come here and kind of lick your lips a little bit and think 'I can win or do well around here’ and it’s a matter of maintaining your precision and ticking along."
Forsstrom is also a fan of a course which measures less than 7,000 yards and said: "I’ve been playing pretty steady, making a lot of cuts and a couple of top 10s.
"I’m looking forward to the rest of the season and seeing what I can do, I feel like the game is pretty good now.
"I always enjoyed playing in Belgium when we played here on the Challenge Tour. I like the course because it’s narrow and not so long, so it should fit me well.
"When I saw it during the practice round I was very pleased with the course, I’m glad I could take advantage of it."
Home favourite Thomas Detry is three shots off the lead after an opening 67.
Meanwhile, English youngster Harley Smith tied the amateur course record as he raced into the lead on day one of the Flogas Irish Men's Amateur Open Championship at The Island.
It was a stunning round of 67 for a -5 total from the 18-year-old from Essex, and even though he played his part in the difficult half of the draw he still took a one-shot overnight lead ahead of Scotland’s Ross Laird.
The Irish were well represented on the leaderboard too with Caolan Rafferty (Dundalk) carding a -3 round of 69 to end up third in the standings. Keith Egan (Carton House) and Paul Coughlan (Castleknock) also finished inside the top four (70).
