Rory McIlroy put on a masterclass as he produced a bogey-free 65 to take a three-shot lead into the weekend at the BMW PGA Championship.
The four-time Major Championship winner is the highest-ranked player in an elite field gathered for the opening Rolex Series event of the season and had huge crowds following him at Wentworth Club.
The Northern Irishman did not disappoint, making seven birdies in a round where he could have gone even lower to get to 12 under as he looks to win this event for the second time after his triumph in 2014.
Frenchman Sébastien Gros and England's Sam Horsfield were then at nine under, a shot clear of reigning Race to Dubai champion Tommy Fleetwood.
Defending champion Alex Noren, 2017 runner-up Francesco Molinari, Thai Kiradech Aphibarnrat and England's Robert Rock were five shots off the lead
McIlroy looked dialled-in from the off as he missed birdie chances from inside ten feet on the first, second and third before a lovely chip on the fourth saw him make his first move of the day.
Approaches to four and eight feet on the seventh and ninth helped the 29 year old turn in 32 but it was a stunning run of four birdies in a row from the 12th that was vintage McIlroy.
He got up and down from the front of the par five 12th, holed a 25-foot left-to-righter on the 13th and then put his tee-shot to tap-in range on the 14th.
A brilliant 35-footer on the 15th then brought the biggest cheer of the day and McIlroy was happy with his work.
I've had a win here and I know how that feels. I'd love to get a win here again -Rory McIlroy
"I played really well to go bogey-free around here," he said. "It was one of the best rounds of golf I've played this year, ball-striking-wise. There's still a couple of loose shots in there but overall it was a great round of golf.
"I've had a win here and I know how that feels. I'd love to get a win here again and if that could kick start a summer like I had in 2014, I'd be all for that. It's a big weekend for me."
Horsfield turned in 34 and then made four birdies in five holes from the 16th to get to double figures and surge up the leaderboard before a bogey on the 17th took some of the gloss off his performance.
Gros went out in the last group of the day and sandwiched a bogey on the third with birdies on the second and sixth. Another gain on the eighth set off a run where he picked up five shots in as many holes, going birdie-birdie-eagle from the tenth, making two further birdies and two more bogeys in a roller coaster back nine.
Englishman Fleetwood got off to a good start with birdies on the second, fourth and sixth but then made six pars in a row before chipping in on the 13th and bogeying the 15th.
Another chip-in on the 16th sparked a fantastic finish and the 27 year old got up and down in brilliant style after a poor second on the par five 17th before getting on the last green in two and narrowly missing his eagle putt.
Swede Noren was bogey-free playing alongside McIlroy with birdies on the fourth, ninth, 12th and last, while Italian Molinari had a birdie-birdie finish and a single bogey in his 67.
Rock made two bogeys while recording a 68, with Apibarnrat making three - including finding the water on the last for the second day in a row - in a 69.
Italian Nino Bertasio, Danish duo Lucas Bjerregaard and Lasse Jensen, South Africans Darren Fichardt and Branden Grace, England's Matthew Fitzpatrick, Finn Mikko Korhonen, Frenchman Alexander Levy, Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell and Chilean Fabrizio Zanotti were at six under.
