Lawrie and Drysdale shared the lead at Wentworth

37 year old Drysdale first joined the European Tour in 2002 but has yet to taste victory and while the chances of that breakthrough happening this week are slim he has made a great start in just his fourth time of playing the event.

“The season to date has been good, from tee to green, I’ve been hitting the ball well, haven’t holed many ping g15 irons putts all season, said Drysdale. "The back injury, I was a little unlucky but I seem to get something every year for a couple of weeks.

Lawrie thought believes the layout sets up well for him. "The course is set up great for me. Not one of the longest hitters on Tour but one of the straightest. You really have to hit a lot of fairways and you have to position your second shots off the greens to give yourself a chance of making birdies, or just settle for pars.

“It’s a course that you have to be very patient on and I’m quite a patient person, my wife wouldn’t believe that, but I am somewhere on the golf course. So that’s what you have to do.”

The more fancied players at the beginning of the week have made mixed starts. Rose was definitely one of them and will play a key role in proceedings no doubt as the week progresses.

“Overall, tee to green, my golf has been good this year. Just haven’t been rolling the putts and today, I hit a few shots on the last few holes but played nicely the first sort of 12 and 13 and managed to roll a few putts in.

“2 under through seven, feel like I’m playing well, and then I make four bogeys in five holes. So it’s just pretty disappointing. I feel like, you know, I’m playing pretty well. I just need to go out there and shoot the score.”

“Nice to get off to a great start at Wentworth, especially the afternoon, quick turnaround, hopefully keep the momentum going tomorrow morning., said the Englishman who won the WGC Cadillac Ping G20 driver Championship earlier this year. "Great crowds today, they came out in force with the weather being what it was and just a fun day’s golf back in England.

Defending champion Luke Donald is just two from the lead, two late birdies aiding his cause after a mid round stumble and Ernie Els gave an indication he might yet be a threat this week with his opening round of 68 on a golf course where he has yet to win this coveted event although where he has seven Wold match Play titles to his name.

Els was pleased to make a decent start. "I’m just pleased that I had a good first round for a change. The last couple of years I haven’t played that well here. I’m pleased to get off to a start which I’ve done now.

“It’s a great, solid round, said Donald. "This course is not easy. It’s tough. They gave us a little bit of a break today. I think they put some water on the greens last night. The balls were holding a little bit more than they were on Wednesday. But certainly as the week goes on, I think the forecast is still going to be pretty good. If they get the greens going firm, it’s going to be tough.

“I knew the course was going to be discount golf clubs fine, especially after the latest little tweaks we made. I think that makes you feel a little better that you know that the guys are going to like it. That didn’t have an effect on me; I was just motivated to play well this week.”

“Yeah, a bit of déjà vu from last year, said McIlory. "I kept getting off to good start and sort of making a few birdies around the turn and not really getting any momentum back, and it was the exact same what happened today.