Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo - day one digest

Jeong weon Ko sets the pace, Thriston Lawrence continues his hot form and Guido Migliozzi unfortunately goes pin-seeking.

Everything you need to know from the opening round at The Belfry.

Ko surges into contention

Frenchman Ko, who is still awaiting his maiden DP World Tour title, had struggled in recent weeks - he has made only one cut on his last six starts - but he gave himself a much-needed confidence boost by coming home in 31 for a brilliant 67. He traded a birdie with a bogey to be level-par through 11 holes at the Belfry, however, five birdies in six holes saw him charge into the early clubhouse lead, which was only matched by Paul Waring. "I think it was solid overall. I played the driver well. My irons were good. Putting was really good. There was no part of the game that was bad really. So quite happy with the round," Ko said. "Greens were a bit firmer this week so a bit more cautious about the pins. That was the key to success I think today."

Lawrence oozing with confidence

Thriston Lawrence has maintained his brilliant recent form by sitting one off the leading duo. He mixed six birdies and one bogey to briefly join Ko at the leaderboard summit heading down the last, but a wayward tee-shot saw him slip into the chasing pack. That does not detract from the South African's stunning performance at the 152nd Open Championship last month, where he finished sole fourth, and he came to the Belfry on the back of victory in the SunBet Challenge Times Square Casino on the Sunshine Tour last week. He said: "It was good. Sixteen greens in regulation, which is always nice. I think that's key around this golf course. It's not the longest golf course, but you know, if you can get the greens in regulation and give yourself some nice birdie opportunities, I think you're doing well. So yeah, happy with four under." On his confidence, he added: "Yeah, the last three years have been good. So I wouldn't really say the last couple of weeks have been been good; the last three years. Obviously a win does help, and you obviously ooze with confidence but every tournament is a new tournament and you're only as good as the last one. So you know, back to the drawing board today and I had a good plan and managed to execute it."

Go for green!

During the tournament, title sponsor Betfred have pledged to donate £500 to event charity Guide Dogs, while 100 trees will also be planted for anyone who achieves the feat. It is a brilliant initiative and the field did not disappoint by tackling the challenge. Andy Sullivan led the way, however, by being the only person to eagle the tricky 298-yard par four courtesy of a monster 80 foot putt.

Unlucky 13 for Migliozzi

Italian Guido Migliozzi will have rued his bad luck at the 13th hole with this approach...

He did save par from 20 feet and moved further into contention with a fourth birdie of the day at the 15th, only to put two in the water at the last for a quadruple bogey eight to slip back to one over.

Willett mic'd up

2016 Masters Tournament champion Danny Willett did not have the greatest of days on the Brabazon course on Thursday, finishing on four over par, but he still managed to produce this brilliant recovery shot to walk off with an unlikely bogey at the sixth. Fascinating conversation between the eight-time DP World Tour winner and his caddie Sam Haywood.