Tom McKibbin sits three strokes adrift after a one-under par opening round of 72 at the Porsche European Open in Hamburg.
Germany's Max Kieffer and Sweden's Simon Forsstroem share the lead after Thursday, posting four-under par rounds of 69 around the Green Eagles course.
Down golfer McKibbin fared the better of the Irish duo, closing with a birdie to lie at one-under.
Starting on the back nine on the unusual par-73 layout, McKibbin birdied 12 and 15, dropping a stroke at 13. He fell back to even par with a bogey on 2nd but capped off his round with a birdie on 9 to sit tied-13th after Round 1.
Two strokes further back is Cork's John Murphy, who carded a steady one-over par round of 74.
Murphy had a rocky start with four bogeys on his outward nine, with just a solitary birdie. However, his inward nine salvaged the round with birdies at 12 and 15.
Kieffer gave the home crowd plenty to cheer as he claimed a share of the lead after Round 1.
Kieffer fired an eagle and four birdies in an opening four-under-par 69 on a windswept day in Hamburg, as the 7,455-yard course lived up to its nickname of the Green Monster.
The 32-year-old produced a brilliant burst of scoring on the front nine, holing from 54 feet for birdie on the third, 50 feet for eagle on the fourth and recovering from a bogey on the next by chipping in for birdie on the sixth.
"It's been a great day," Kieffer said. "The front nine I holed two very long putts and one chip in which really got the round going. It was a great kickstart to the round.
"The back nine was a bit more scoreable actually because most of the holes are downwind and you have the four par fives.
"I actually played quite well on the back nine but didn't hole the putts so I left a few out there, but overall quite happy. I missed putts on 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 so to finally drop one on 17 was a nice bonus."
Kieffer's score was matched by the in-form Swede Simon Forsstrom, who won his maiden DP World Tour title in the Soudal Open three weeks ago and carded five birdies and a solitary bogey.
England's Jordan Smith shared third place on three under with Joost Luiten of the Netherlands and Denmark's Marcus Helligkilde, with Scotland's Ewen Ferguson and England's Paul Waring part of the group another stroke back.
Former champion Richard McEvoy, who is making his 400th appearance on the DP World Tour this week, holed out from 139 yards for an eagle on the 16th in his opening 75.
