Antione Rozner shot a first round of nine under par 63, equalling his career best round, to take a four-shot lead in the $2 million Korea Championship Presented by Genesis at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea, Incheon, South Korea on the DP World Tour.

Starting on tee ten, 30 year-old Rozner, who currently stands in 14th place in the Race to Dubai Rankings and number 135 in the Official World Golf Ranking, had an opening nine of 30, with six birdies and three pars.

He then birdied holes 1, 3 and 6 on his back nine to come home in 33 and hand in a scorecard of 63.

Rozner has three career wins on the DP World Tour, including the 2020 Golf in Dubai Championship presented by DP World hosted on the Fire course at Jumeirah Golf Estates.

In tied second is South Korean Sanghyun Park and England’s Andy Sullivan, four shots back on 67.

On completing his round Rozner said, ‘A lot of things went my way today. I obviously played well but you need a bit of luck to shoot 63, especially on a hard golf course like this one.

‘I holed a really good one on the 11th hole, my second hole of the day. It went straight in the centre of the hole and I thought 'maybe it could be a good day', and it was.

‘I'm really pleased, I hit some superb shots. Really great start.

‘It’s a tough course, you have to keep grinding and you have to focus on the shots. I did that well.

‘I didn’t have so many chances on my back nine, but when I had a chance I made it. It was a pure day of golf, one of those days when you wish you could play like this all the time.’

Of the Dubai based players: Nicolas Colsaerts shot a three under par 69, Adrian Meronk a three birdie – three bogey level par round, Aaron Cockerill representing The Els Club, Dubai a 72, and Rafa Cabrera Bello a five over par round.

46 players are under par after the first round.