Taiwan's Hsieh Chin-sheng made a spectacular return to the Hong Kong Golf Club yesterday, firing a seven-under-par 64 to take a two-shot lead after the first round of the 40th Perrier Hong Kong Open.
Hsieh - a Hong Kong Open winner in 1988 - made light of the damp conditions to turn in a flawless round of seven birdies and 11 pars.
His exemplary performance was also a course record, as this year's slightly altered 6,727-yard layout has never been played before.
'My irons were very good today. That was the best part of my game . . . everything I hit landed near the pin,' Hsieh said after his record round.
Trailing Hsieh by two strokes are big-hitting American John Daly, Taiwan's Wang Ter-chang and Hong Kong-based American professional Brad Schadewitz.
A 300-strong gallery trailing Daly, Costantino Rocca and Frank Nobilo had come to see the American's famously long play off the tee. They didn't have long to wait before Daly obliged.