A flawless 7-under-par round of 65 put Alexander Levy on top of the leaderboard after the first day of the BMW Masters at Lake Malaren in Shanghai.

The Frenchman started at the 10th and picked up four birdies in his first four holes. He added three more on his way to the finish line for a perfect opening in what is the first tournament in the European Tour's "Final Series".

It was a day made for low scoring due to a course softened by rain, and with the greens holding most approach shots. Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts, Romain Wattel of France and Argentina's Emiliano Grillo finished within one stroke of the lead, while 41 players in the 78-man field ended the day under par.

Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell also went bogey free, firing a 5-under 67 to sit in fifth.

Levy, 24, is 19th in the Tour's Race to Dubai standings but a strong showing at the US$7 million event can help rocket him up the money list.

World No. 1 Rory McIlroy is well clear at the top of the standings but he is skipping this event and the following World Golf Championship HSBC Champions, also in Shanghai, next week.

Second-placed Sergio Garcia is also absent this week, opting to compete in Malaysia, while Henrik Stenson, third on the list, is also missing.

Race to Dubai

Welshman Jamie Donaldson, fourth in the Race to Dubai, made a good start yesterday with a 4-under 68 to sit in a group of six players, including victorious Ryder Cup-winning teammate Thomas Bjorn of Denmark, who is fifth in the money race.

Leading the Chinese challenge on 3 under were 19-year-old Li Haotong and Hu Mu.

Justin Rose, world No. 6 and one of the pre-tournament favorites, did not have a good day. The Englishman bogeyed the 11th, and then triple bogeyed the 13th, leaving him eight strokes behind the early leaders after just four holes. But he rallied to finish the day at even-par 72.

Italy's Edoardo Molinari landed a hole in one at the 4th. If he had done it at the par-3 17th instead, the shot would have won him a BMW i8 car provided by the tournament's title sponsor.

Among others, France's Victor Dubuisson settled for a 70; Irishman Paul McGinley finished with a 71; and Ian Poulter of England, struggled to a disappointing 74.

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