Browne off to dream start in China

Ireland's Stephen Browne made a blistering start to the TCL Classic iin China with a first-round 65 to lie just thee shots off the pace .

He was level with defending champion Paul Casey, but their performances were overshadowed as two golfers broke the Yalong Bay Golf Club’s course record on a day of low scoring.

Asian Tour regular Edward Loar set a new record for the 72-par course with a 10-under round of 62 only to see China’s Liang Wen-chong equal his score later in the afternoon as kind conditions encouraged a rash of rounds in the 60s.

Loar and Liang led by one shot from South Africa’s Warren Abery, Swede Joakim Haeggman and Andrew Buckle of Australia while world number 14 David Howell was in fifth place on his own after recording a 64.

Browne and Casey was joined by two other players – South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel and Argentinian Ariel Canete and Andrew Buckle from Australia – on seven under par.

The defending champion – who defeated Ireland’s Paul McGinley in a play-off to win the title last year – set the early pace before being overhauled, first by Abery and then by Loar and Liang.

South African Abery had already equalled the old record with his round of 63, which made him the early tournament leader, but Texan Loar went one better.

The American’s round started with a birdie at the 10th and an eagle at the 13th moved his score onto three under par after just four holes.

A birdie at the next followed was followed by a dropped shot at the 15th, although Loar immediately claimed that shot back at the next hole. Another birdie at the 18th left him five under at the turn.

Loar remained consistent on the next nine holes, picking up shots at the first and second as well as another pair of birdies at the fourth and fifth holes before closing with four pars to finish off his record-breaking round.

Liang’s round was the surprise of the day, the Chinese golfer hitting 10 birdies and not dropping a single shot in a consistent, high-quality 18 holes which included a run of four straight birdies from the 14th to the 17th.

Howell also hit 10 birdies in his first round but the Englishman dropped two shots, at the par-four 10th and the 240-yard par-three 15th.

Nick Dougherty, who has set his sights on winning this tournament in the hope of qualifying for next month’s Masters, is four shots off the pace after hitting a six-under-par 66 while last year’s runner-up, McGinley, salvaged his round with three straight birdies to finish on three under.