Justin Rose lurks as Lu Wei-chih and Andrea Pavan take UBS Hong Kong Open first-round lead

There was a welcome return to form for Lu Wei-chih and Andrea Pavan as they shared the lead after the first round of the US$2 million UBS Hong Kong Open but much of the fans’ focus was turned to the stars who ended the day lurking with intent.

While Taiwan’s Lu and Italian Pavan signed for six-under-par 64s to top the leaderboard, world number seven Justin Rose ended the round tied in second place with India’s Jeev Milkha Singh and rising Taiwanese talent Pan Cheng-tsung on five-under after a 65, while 2010 US Open winner Graeme McDowell was among six players on four-under.

And world number eight Dustin Johnson couldn’t buy a putt but seemed to take it all in his loping, laconic stride on his way to a one-under 69.

“I hit a lot of good putts that just didn’t go in the hole, breaking a different way. But I was OK with it and, hopefully, they go in tomorrow,” he shrugged afterwards.

It was a day full of emotion for the 36-year-old Lu, who had bogey blimps on the par-five third and the par-four 16th to rub some of the sheen from his eight birdies for the round.

Lu had surgery for a brain tumour in 2012 and he revealed he is only just now getting his game – and his general well being – back together.

“At the start today I was just trying to get into the flow,” said Lu. “But after that I started playing really well, and I was very comfortable.”

Pavan has been struggling with his game too, and the 26-year-old Italian will be off to qualifying school when the season ends to try to retain his playing card on the European Tour, which co-sanctions the event here with the Asian Tour.

“I'm just really trying to get my game in better shape,” said Pavan. “I still feel like I'm lacking a bit of confidence. Today I've managed to play very well for about 15 holes and then I had the occasional bad shot.”

Rose was true to his pre-tournament word that he would play a thinking man’s game this time around after failing to make the cut on his last appearance here in 2011 and revealed he’d been working on his mechanics coming into the round.

“Yesterday in the pro-am I didn't make a birdie all day, and was struggling,” said Rose. “[Caddy Mark] “Fooch” [Fulcher] gave me a little bit of a swing tip, said I looked a little back on my heels and posture and stuff. It’s amazing how you can make a simple adjustment like that and began to build some confidence today.”

The Englishman kept clear of trouble – mostly – with a bogey-free round that was all about playing the percentages.

“I'm not going to chase anything,” said the 35-year-old. “It's obviously very early in the tournament. No need to do anything different tomorrow. Keep the ball in play and keep the same strategy and keep trying to execute the same shots.”

Former Hong Kong Open winner Ian Poulter finished the day on three-under 67 after his mad dash in to make the field. That experience - of finding out he needed to play in Hong Kong to ensure he retained his European Tour card, then needing Rich Beem to withdraw from the field so he could play – might have frazzled a lesser man’s mind. But The Englishman seems made of far sterner stuff.

“I guess in the circumstances, it was pretty good,” said the 39-year-old Poulter who only arrived in Hong Kong late on Wednesday night.

“I've played pretty nicely, on a course that I've had to get to know again pretty quickly.”