Rafa Cabrera Bello made a stunning closing eagle to fire a 64 and open up a two-shot lead midway through the opening round of the UBS Hong Kong Open.
The European Tour is ending the calendar year at Hong Kong Golf Club and Cabrera Bello has been one of the stand-out performers of 2016, not missing a single cut and finishing eighth on the Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex.
That run of made cuts looks almost certain to continue after a six under par start and with a debut Ryder Cup appearance under his belt, the Spaniard could yet add a win to a stellar 12 months.
Another man who has enjoyed an excellent 2016 is Jordan Smith - who finished top of the Challenge Tour rankings - and he was at four under alongside fellow Englishman Tommy Fleetwood, Spanish duo Jorge Campillo and Nacho Elvira, American pair David Lipsky and Paul Peterson and Australian Sam Brazel.
Smith set the early pace with a hat-trick of birdies from the third and when he added another on the seventh, he was out in front on his own.
Peterson was soon to pass him, though, as he made back-to-back birdies on the fifth and sixth to get to five under. He played his first nine holes from the 11th in one under and made gains on the second and third before holing a 25-footer on the fifth and putting his approach to ten feet on the next.
A bogey on the ninth saw him slip back and while Smith briefly hit the front on his own again with a birdie on the fifth, he dropped back into the pack with a bogey on the 14th.
That pack included Cabrera Bello, who had birdies on the 16th, 17th, first and third, and Lipsky who made four birdies in a row from the first.
Cabrera Bello then jumped out of the pack in stunning fashion on the tenth, pitching his approach a foot past the flag and spinning it back for a closing eagle and a six under par total.
Another Lipsky birdie on the sixth made it five in six holes and he was on the charge and just one shot off the lead but a closing bogey meant Cabrera Bello was in control.
Fleetwood was a picture of consistency in his 66 but did not look like he would trouble the top of the leaderboard with birdies on the 14th and third. He then birdied two of his last three with gains on the eighth and tenth to join the group at four under.
Elvira was another player who benefited from a good finish after starting on the 11th as he birdied the sixth, seventh and tenth to also sign for a 66.
Fellow Spaniard Campillo birdied two of his last four on the seventh and eighth to add to gains on the 11th, 12th and 16th and a bogey on the first.
Brazel had bogeyed the first but he got himself into a share of the lead with birdies on the second, sixth, seventh, eighth and tenth. He bogeyed the next but a birdie on the 13th kept him well in contention.
South African Justin Walters, Australian Jason Scrivener and Filipino Juvic Pagunsan were then at three under with 2010 champion Ian Poulter in the group a shot further back.
