Alejandro del Rey carded a stunning 61 to edge ahead of teenage sensation Yanhan Zhou and open up a one-shot lead after day one of the Volvo China Open.
Zhou, who only turned 18 earlier this month, thrilled the home crowds as he got to nine under through 12 holes and, showing a composure beyond his years, looked certain to take the first-round lead at Enhance Anting Golf Club.
But as he parred his final six holes to card a bogey-free 62, Del Rey matched his front-nine 29 after starting on the tenth to storm to ten under and lead the way.
With no shortage of rain in the build-up and preferred lies in place, it was a low scoring day in Shanghai, with South African Shaun Norris at eight under, one clear of Austrian Bernd Wiesberger.
Spaniard del Rey was making his first start of the Asian Swing but showed no signs of rust as he carded an eagle, nine birdies and a bogey.
He had previously played every event of the International Swing and two events before the festive break – missing just a single cut – and felt taking some time away from competitive golf had done him good.
“I thought about it as an off-season,” he said. “Go back home and get into the gym quite a bit and practise what I need to work on.
“The winter break is not as long as I would like so I thought it was a great time of year to do an off-season and work on stuff.”
He made a brilliant start with an eagle in the tenth and while he added three more birdies to a single bogey in his first nine holes, he was still well down the leaderboard at that point.
A birdie on the first then saw him join the early clubhouse leaders and a hat-trick of gains from the third catapulted him into contention.
A smart approach to the seventh put him in a share of the lead and when he took advantage of the driveable eighth, he was alone in double figures.
“It was great,” he said. “I definitely didn’t see it coming at the beginning of the round, it’s a tough course and you have to play and I guess we got a little bit lucky with the rain yesterday, it helped.
“It was a very nice round, everything felt like it was flowing pretty nicely and I had one of those low ones come out.”
That anyone other than Zhou would be leading after day one had seemed almost unthinkable not long earlier as the home favourite put on a masterclass in his first 12 holes.
He already has 11 wins on the China Tour, with seven of those coming last season as he romped to the Order of Merit title as a 17-year-old, and is clearly comfortable on home soil after also finishing third at last month’s Hainan Classic presented by MAEXTRO.
With father and coach Xunshu on the bag, he birdied the first, hit a smart chip to save par on the second and then set up a gain with an excellent approach to the third.
Long putts at the fifth and sixth – the latter from off the green – maintained the momentum and he turned in 29 thanks to a neat pitch at the seventh and two putts after driving the eighth.
An eagle from 15 feet on the tenth was followed by a 25-foot right-to-lefter on the 12th and at nine under, talk of a 59 was in the air.
That would not come to pass as Zhou parred his way home but he was left to reflect on another remarkable day in one of the game’s most exciting developing careers.
“I’m feeling great,” he said. “Seven birdies and an eagle, I just feel ‘oh my God!’.
“I played well on the front nine but on the back nine the wind is getting tricky and I coped with it pretty good.
“It felt crazy on my first ten holes, I just made so many birdies and so many pars so I feel very pleased.
“There are so many people have come here to watch me and support me so I’m very happy to get a good start.
“My dad supports me a lot and I love to play games with my family and friends, it’s incredible.”
Norris was bogey-free in his round, making eight birdies, with Wiesberger recording seven gains, the highlight being a chip-in on the ninth.
Home favourite Bowen Chai was then at six under.
Australian Kuangyu Chen holed out for a spectacular eagle on the par-four seventh and he was at five under alongside 2024 champion Adrian Otaegui, Canadian Aaron Cockerill and England's Andrew Johnston.
