Irish pair Peter Lawrie and Graeme McDowell upstaged some of the biggest stars in European golf to lead the BMW Championship after day one. The duo shot five-under rounds of 67 and were joined in the lead by Portugal's Jose-Filipe Lima.
A group of eight players, including former Open champion Ben Curtis, lie a shot back, with Englishman Nick Faldo in contention after a two-under 70.
Event favourite Ernie Els could only manage a one-over round of 73.
But Ryder Cup stars Colin Montgomerie, Thomas Bjorn, Darren Clarke, Luke Donald and Ian Poulter all made bright starts, shooting 71.
 |  I can't say I played terribly, but it was not a good scoring day |
Dubliner Lawrie, who holed out three times from off the green, held the lead for most of the day after teeing off in the first group
"I played lovely," he said. "It was a great draw to be off first this morning and the greens were in perfect condition."
And McDowell, who hails from Portrush, admitted he was surprised the scoring wasn't better overall.
Els, meanwhile, was philosophical after an up-and-down round, saying: "I can't say I played terribly, but it was not a good scoring day. I made some mistakes."
Playing partner Paul Casey continued a run of bad form with a 78.
MMIX
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
Driven by success