Joseba Torres fired a flawless ten under par round of 62 to hold a three-stroke lead after the opening round of the Hainan Open.
The Spaniard was blemish free, making ten birdies on the day to dismantle Sanya Luhuitou Golf Club and move clear of the chasing pack.
Torres, who is teeing it up in China for the first time, described the day as one where everything went his way.
“Everything worked out today,” he said. “I played very good, made a few putts.
“I missed one shot on the first and was in the rough, then I chipped it in so I think everything worked out.
“I had a good group today, it very easy going. It was very fun today.”
Starting on the back nine, Torres quickly got under par with a birdie at ten, before another followed on the par three 14th.
He then caught fire, making five birdies in a row around the turn from the 17th to the third. A par on the fourth was followed by another hat-trick of gains from the fifth, seeing the Spaniard reach the ten under mark.
The 24-year-old then made a lengthy par putt on his closing ninth to maintain a clean card after round one.
“I started playing very well,” he added. “The first hole gave me a good birdie opportunity and then I just kept going.
“I hit some very good shots on my back nine and then I made some good putts on eight and nine that are very tough holes, so very happy with the finish.
“I think my approach to the green and iron game was very good, and then I made some putts. I don’t think you can shoot ten under without making any putts so putting was very good.”
Entering last week’s Abu Dhabi Challenge, Torres found himself 71st in the Road to Mallorca Rankings and outside the bubble to make it into the Hainan Open.
But a 16th place finish in Al Ain Region saw him rise to 64th in the season-long Rankings and booking his flights east.
The Spaniard, who needs to climb 19 places over the next two weeks to reach the Grand Final, feels like the pressure is off as he looks to continue his recent rise.
“Three weeks ago I was 122nd in the Rankings, and I started playing good.
“I played great last week to make it to China and this week I don’t have much to lose, so I’ll try to go full throttle. Tomorrow won’t be as easy as today, so I’ll try to be patient.
“My approach will be to keep going. It’s not going to be like this every day so just be patient.”
Four players find themselves tied three adrift of Torres, with Finland’s Tapio Pulkkanen, South Africa’s Justin Harding, China’s Mingrui Ma and England’s Callum Farr all shooting seven under par rounds of 63 to share second place. Thailand’s Newport Laparojkit holds solo sixth on six under par following an opening 66.
The second round of the Hainan Open begins at 7:00am local time with Torres teeing off alongside Slovakia’s Tadeas Tetak and South Africa’s Ryan Van Velzen at 8:20am.
