Henrik Stenson battled testing conditions to fire a seven under par 65 and open up a slender first-round lead over an all-star field at the HSBC Champions at Sheshan International Golf Club.
After dropping a shot at the his first hole of the day, the Swede reached the turn in five-under 31 after picking up six shots in five holes courtesy of some solid putting and an eagle at the second - following a three-wood approach to within six feet.
And as early morning fog brought a steady stream of rain throughout the afternoon, Stenson headed home in two under following a pair of late birdies to sit at the top of the leaderboard.
He was chased by three of the world's top 10 - Sergio Garcia, Anthony Kim and defending champion Phil Mickelson - and Australian world number 16 Adam Scott.
"I'm very pleased with that," said the 32-year-old world number 12.
"I haven't been playing great lately and I'm still struggling a little bit, especially with the longer clubs, but I hit a lot of three woods and kept the ball in play and really made some good stuff from there on. I hit some good approaches and made some great putts over the 18 holes.
"I made my scoring around the greens. I'm pleased with the scoring and for keeping it together. It's a very good start and hopefully I can build a little bit on it."
Garcia is looking to overhaul defending champion Mickelson in the world rankings with victory this week and made the ideal start with a bogey-free, six-under-par 66.
He had a chance for an eagle at the last but, after hitting a five wood from 235 yards to four feet, watched as the putt lipped out and he was forced to settle for a closing birdie.
"It was a solid round. I played well and hit the ball good," said Garcia, who won October's Castello Masters in his native Spain.
"Unfortunately my putting stroke did not feel as good as it has lately, maybe down to the jet lag."
Mickelson, who won a thrilling three-way play-off last year, dropped just two shots over his opening round which also included an eagle at the second.
"It was a good first round. With the weather conditions and the greens being soft, even though it was difficult to see, it was a good first round," said the American.
"I putted well and made a lot of good putts. Last year I putted the greens well, that was a big key to me winning."
World number eight Kim, who has been struggling recently with an injured ankle and jaw, reached the turn in a bogey-free 32 after also carding an eagle at the second before a mixed back nine of 34, which included three birdies, left him just a shot off the pace.
World number 16 Scott played a mixed opening nine holes in one under, but made his move with a flawless five-under-par back nine.
"I'm fairly pleased with the way I played," he said. "I think I probably couldn't have been much better. I could have been a little bit worse so that's encouraging to get the most out of the round.
"I would like to hit it a bit better, but it was quite hard to pick lines. The visibility was poor and it wasn't easy to feel your way around the course."
Zimbabwe's Marc Cayeux and Englishman Oliver Wilson sit at five under after signing for first-round 65s, with Ian Poulter and Irish duo Damien McGrane and Peter Lawrie in a group a further shot off the lead.
Collated first-round scores (Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72):
65 Henrik Stenson (Swe)
66 Phil Mickelson (USA), Anthony Kim (USA), Adam Scott (Aus), Sergio Garcia (Spa)
67 Oliver Wilson, Marc Cayeux (Zim)
68 Damien McGrane, Prayad Marksaeng (Tha), Ian Poulter, Gregory Bourdy (Fra), Peter Lawrie, Thomas Levet (Fra)
69 Charl Schwartzel (Rsa), Ross Fisher, Scott Strange (Aus), Wen-Tang Lin (Tai), Ben Leong (Mal), Andrew McLardy (Rsa), Robert Karlsson (Swe), Peter Hanson (Swe), Felipe Aguilar (Chi), Padraig Harrington
70 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind), Hennie Otto (Rsa), Seung-yul Noh (Kor), Geoff Ogilvy (Aus), Alvaro Quiros (Spa)
71 Mikael Lundberg (Swe), Graeme McDowell, Soren Hansen (Den), Lian-Wei Zhang (Chn), Mark Brown (USA), Paul Casey, KJ Choi (Kor), Richard Finch, Wen-chong Liang (Chn), Lei Shang (Tpe), Richard Sterne (Rsa)
72 Trevor Immelman (Rsa), Gui Ming Liao (Chn), Soren Kjeldsen (Den), Joong Kyung Mo (Kor), Darren Clarke
73 James Kingston (Rsa), Jean Hugo (Rsa), Andrew Bonhomme (Aus), Martin Kaymer (Ger), Wen Teh Lu (Tpe), Wei-Huang Wu (Tpe), Ashun Wu (Chn), Rick Kulacz (Aus), Sang-moon Bae (Kor), Alastair Forsyth, Chapchai Nirat (Tha), Camilo Villegas (Col), Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra), Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa)
74 David Dixon, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa), Angelo Que (Phi)
75 David Horsey, Hao Yuan (Chn), Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha)
76 Scott Hend (Aus), David Gleeson (Aus), Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind), Gregory Havret (Fra), Chao Li (Chn)
77 Inn-choon Hwang (Kor), John Bickerton, Kangchun Wu (Chn), James Kamte (Rsa)
78 Bryan Saltus (USA), Pablo Larrazabal (Spa)
79 David Howell
88 Shaun Norris (Rsa)
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