Jordan Gumberg finished his first round with five straight birdies to lead the 2026 Hainan Classic presented by MAEXTRO.
The American was in the chasing pack at three under par after he dropped a shot at the fourth, his 13th hole - but took full advantage of the remaining five to reach eight under par, one shot ahead of Spaniard Jorge Campillo at Mission Hills.
Gumberg turned in 33 after birdies at the 12th, 17th and 18th on the Blackstone Course - the tournament's traditional home, before reverting to a two-course set-up this year.
He added another at the third before his one dropped shot proved the prelude to that dramatic finishing burst.
He said: "I just got the putter rolling. It’s been a little while since I’ve had the putter actually go my way. I made a little switch in that break area, going back to a short putter, and I just have a lot of confidence in it right now. It’s feeling good.
"I kind of didn’t even realise it, to be honest with you. I knew I birdied two in a row and was kind of just plugging along, and just kept hitting good shots. I didn’t really realise it was five in a row, not that that makes a difference, but it was nice to see it on the card for sure.
"It’s always great to be in a good spot after Thursday. You’ve just got to keep your head down and keep going. It’s a long golf tournament, there are still three rounds left and we play a different golf course tomorrow, so it will be interesting."
Campillo made back-to-back birdies at the third and fourth holes and another at the ninth to turn in 35, three under par for the long front nine on the Vintage Course.
A run of four straight birdies from the 11th saw him surge to the head of the field and though he bogeyed the 15th, he bounced straight back with an eighth birdie of the day at the next.
He said: “It was good, I played quite solid. I hardly missed any shots besides the hole that I made bogey, I hit the bunker and I got a bad lie there, but besides that I played very solid.
“I made a few putts and not very many. It was very nice.
“I hit my irons very good, driver was in play all the time. I think everything was good. I think my irons were phenomenal, I would say.”
“I got easy birdies on three and four which helped the round. I missed quite a few birdies in the front nine, and the back nine it was much better.
“I putted good and I was able to finish with two pars in the last two hole, which are really tough.”
The two-course set-up is a new innovation for this tournament, with last year's maiden co-sanctioned event hosted solely on the Blackstone Course.
Campillo said of the Vintage Course: “It's nice. It's quite entertaining to play actually. I enjoy it a lot.
“If I have to play one of the two, I'd probably play Vintage. It's very entertaining, tricky greens. It's a little short but it's very fun to play really.”
Home favourite Wenyi Ding had two eagles in his 66 on the Vintage Course, one at the 12th to leave him three under through three holes having started on the back nine and then another at the third. Three birdies and a single bogey completed an impressive 66.
Jason Scrivener matched that score, with six birdies in a bogey-free round, as did Dylan Frittelli with seven birdies and a bogey.
Thriston Lawrence had eight birdies and two bogeys - both on par-fives - on the Blackstone Course, where Aaron Cockerill also shot 66 with seven birdies and a bogey.
Martin Couvra and Taehoon Ok shared eighth place on five under while 17-year-old Chinese player Yanhan Zhou was one of ten players at four under.
