Friday 28 October 2016 11:15, UK
Russell Knox made a strong start to the defence of his WGC-HSBC Champions title with a bogey-free opening round in Shanghai.
Knox finished 20 under par in winning his first European Tour title last year and carried on where he left off on Thursday as he attempts to become only the second player after Tiger Woods to retain a World Golf Championships title.
The 31-year-old Scot carded a 66 at Sheshan International to finish six under par, a shot behind playing partner Rickie Fowler and two back from Sweden's Rikard Karlberg.
The group of Knox, Fowler and Paul Casey were a combined 18 under par for the day, with Casey carding a 67 which featured four birdies, an eagle and the group's only bogey on the 11th.
After starting on the back nine, Knox followed four straight pars with four birdies in succession from the 14th, before picking up further shots on the third and seventh.
Fowler had covered the back nine in 31 and completed a flawless 65 with birdies on the second and ninth, the latter edging him ahead of Knox and compatriot Daniel Berger.
World No 3 Rory McIlroy was seven shots off the pace with an opening day 71 as he chased the victory he feels will be necessary to have a chance of winning the Race to Dubai for the third year running.
McIlroy is more than a million points behind Masters champion Danny Willett, who has a lead of more than 400,000 points over Open champion Henrik Stenson, with Willett battling back from a nightmare start to card an opening 74.
Three bogeys and a double bogey in the space of four holes took Willett to the turn in 41, but birdies on the second, third and ninth repaired some of the damage for the world No 9.
McIlroy also started on the 10th and ended a run of six straight pars with a birdie on the 16th, although even that was something of a disappointment after driving the green on the short par four and missing from eight feet for an eagle.
And there was worse to come on the par-five 18th as the four-time major winner pushed his approach into the water surrounding the green, the resulting bogey dropping him back to level par before he hit another birdie at the seventh to finish one under par.
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