George Coetzee and Tyrrell Hatton shared the lead at seven under after day one of the British Masters supported by Sky Sports.
Here, we take a look at what some of the chasing pack had to say after their opening 18 holes.
Chris Hanson (64, -6)
"It was good. I played tee-to-green the best I've played all year on the front nine. I've been working hard on that side of my game, so just being patient and hit a lot of good shots and managed to hole the putts. I just got myself in very good positions off the tee. I was obviously in play but then hit myself into the correct areas on the greens. Gave myself eight chances there."
Mikko Ilonen (64, -6)
"It's a bit of a surprise to be honest. I wasn't feeling that great this morning and in the warm up, hitting a few balls on the range, it didn't feel good. Then I went out there and just started dropping putts from everywhere, really. In the beginning they were for pars and then, when I had a few chances, I made some birdies. Pretty strong finish, I actually hit a couple of really good shots coming in. It got better as the sun went higher. I stayed calm. I knew in the beginning that it's not going to be easy. Just keep your head down and keep going and maybe I get a couple of chances."
Alvaro Quiros (64, -6)
"I'm very happy. It's a very nice round of golf again. Portugal last week was a nice week because I had another three good rounds, so this is continuing. I have played well. I have putted probably very nicely, too. I have had a very nice level in all the different stages of my game today. It's a good beginning. Obviously I prefer to start shooting this score than shooting a bad one. It's another good round of golf after the three that I played in Portugal."
Rikard Karlberg (64, -6)
I have a super cold. My eye had inflammation this morning so I was happy to get around pretty good. I never putted this good in I don't know how long, so I'm very happy. Somehow, mentally, I knew what I had to do. That really made it quite simple and comfortable. I think I had eight putts on my back nine or something like that. The longest, it was probably around 30, 40 feet. I'm really, really happy how I played today, even if I wouldn't hole that many putts, it would still be a good round."
Matthew Fitzpatrick (66, -4)
"It was a good day. Really pleased to get off to a good start - 66, four under, it's a couple back but 66 is always sort of quite nice. I scrambled really well. Made a couple of bad putts and a couple of bad chips that just got away but just managed to make the putts to save myself. Holed a few good eight, nine-footers to save par and capitalised when I gave myself chances. My game feels in decent shape."
Rory McIlroy (67, -3)
"It was okay. I didn't feel like I did anything particularly great but I didn't do anything really bad. I hit one bad tee shot on 17 which nearly cost me. Looked like a lost ball for a while but we were able to find it, that was good. I've been seeing some positives over my game in the last week as I've practised. My iron play is starting to get better, wedge play is starting to get better. Those are things that I've really struggled with this year and feel like they are going in the right direction. It's been a big year in my life away from the golf course this year and I'm not saying that that had an effect on what happened on it. I feel like the injury held me back from practising. But if I can't take time off at this part of the year, when can I take any time off?"
