Marcel Siem, Matthias Schwab, Thomas Aiken and Haotong Li shared the lead after firing opening 66s at the Betfred British Masters, but Ireland's Conor Purcell is down the leadboard.
Purcell shot 73 after mixing five bogeys with four birdies to finish in a tie for 67th on one over par. With just 65 set to make the cut, the Malahide native has a job on his hands to make the weekend.
The leading group are on six under par, with Japan's Keita Nakajima and England's Matt Fitzpatrick a shot back.
Fitzpatrick, who claimed the first of his nine DP World Tour titles at this event in 2015, can no longer qualify automatically for next month's Ryder Cup but will be hoping to show European captain Luke Donald that he deserves to be one of his picks, and got his week off to a strong start.
The 30-year-old told the DP World Tour website: "This week is another opportunity to play well.
"That is why I am here. To get off to a good start is always nice and hopefully I’ll kick on.
"It means the world to be a part of it. Outside of winning a major, it is normally the first thing on a goal sheet at the start of a Ryder Cup year.
"We have got a great opportunity to do something we have not done in a while and obviously to be a part of that would be special."
