Justin Rose and Ian Poulter bloom in Hong Kong Open first round

Justin Rose lived up to his billing as pre-tournament favourite as Ryder Cup team-mate Ian Poulter ensured his last-minute dash to the Hong Kong Open was not a wasted journey.

World number seven Rose, who is the top ranked player in the field, carded a flawless five-under-par 65 on Thursday to lie one shot off the lead shared by Italy’s Andrea Pavan and Taiwan’s Lu Wei-chih.