Scott Jamieson will take a one-shot lead into the second round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship after getting 2022 off to a stunning start with an opening 63.
The Scot had not teed it up since finishing in the top 15 at the AVIV Dubai Championship in November but showed no signs of rust as he moved to nine under at the first Rolex Series event of the season at Yas Links.
On a low-scoring day where the expected wind failed to blow, Norwegian Viktor Hovland was one shot back after a 64, one clear of big-hitting Belgian Thomas Pieters.
Defending champion Tyrrell Hatton, fellow Englishmen James Morrison and Ian Poulter, Japan's Takumi Kanaya and Frenchman Victor Perez were all at six under.
Jamieson is known for his capacity to go low, missing a putt for the first 59 in DP World Tour history at the 2013 Portugal Masters and recording a 61 at last season's Tenerife Open.
He also has a fine record in Abu Dhabi, finishing in the top 16 at this event for the last three seasons, with a previous low score of 65 at Abu Dhabi Golf Club.
The 38-year-old revealed he had not felt the need to do a lot of work over the festive break and was feeling comfortable with his game as he looked for a strong start to his season.
"Just really solid all day to be honest," said Jamieson, who has been runner-up in the Rolex Series at the 2017 Nedbank Golf Challenge hosted by Gary Player. "It's eight weeks off from tournament golf out here so you're always a little bit on edge probably to start off the day but birdie at the first kind of settled any edge there was and it was just really solid all day.
"This is the first off-season I haven't actually peeled the skin back and tried to figure out how to get better.
"When I started practising a couple of weeks ago, I kept telling myself that you have to hit the ground running here because it could ultimately dictate how your season goes. If you miss the first two cuts of the year, then all of a sudden you feel like you're miles behind because there's such a great prize for the first couple of events.
"So I was aware of that, so mentally I was trying to be as prepared as I could be."
I kept telling myself that you have to hit the ground running here because it could ultimately dictate how your season goes
Jamieson put an approach to ten feet at the first and a tee-shot to eight feet at the fourth before a long putt on the sixth and an up-and-down on the par-five seventh saw him turn in 32.
A smart approach to the tenth was followed by an up-and-down from the sand at the par-five 11th and when he holed an incredible putt from 66 feet at the 12th, he was just one back.
Another beautiful approach to the 14th then handed him the solo lead, before he became the best of the morning wave by three shots after laying up at the par-five last.
After a two-putt birdie on the par-five second, Hovland holed from nearly 40 feet on the third and then sandwiched an up-and-down from the sand at the seventh with two superb iron shots to turn in 31.
A bogey on the 12th came after he had taken advantage of the 11th, before lengthy putts on the 15th and 16th were followed by a birdie on the last to leave him just one back.
Pieters made a rapid start, holing from the fringe to birdie the first and then eagling the second from 18 feet after hitting the green in two.
Further birdies followed after impressive approaches to the fifth and sixth but he three-putted the eighth from distance, picking the shot back up after hitting the 11th green in two.
He left himself a flick into the 14th to set up another gain and birdied the last after laying up.
Perez was seven under after seven holes in his 65, while Kanaya also got to eight under with the help of eagles on the second and sixth, with the duo both held back by a pair of late bogeys.
Poulter had also been eight under before a double-bogey on the 16th, while Hatton and Morrison were both blemish-free.
Belgian Thomas Detry and Major Champions Shane Lowry and Charl Schwartzel were at five under alongside Swede Marcus Kinhult, who will complete his final hole on day two after play was suspended due to darkness.
Rory McIlroy was at level par, one shot clear of reigning European Number One Collin Morikawa.
