Alexander Levy leads in Shanghai

Alexander Levy leads the Shanghai Open after the first round after carding 65.

The Frenchman leads by one shot after shooting seven birdies in his seven-under-par opening round. Fellow countryman Romain Wattel is tied for second on six under with Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts and Argentine Emiliano Grillo.

Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell is a shot further back on five under.

Englishman Oliver Wilson, who won his first European Tour event at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at the start of the month has enjoyed a solid start on four under par, where he is joined by Jamie Donaldson and Thomas Bjorn, along with three others.

Elsewhere and it’s been a poor start for Justin Rose and Ian Poulter. Despite hitting a triple-bogey on the 13th, Rose climbed back up the leaderboard to finish on level par, whereas Poulter struggled with five bogies, to finish the round on a two-over par 74.

The best shot of the day came from Italian Edoardo Molinari, when he carded a hole-in-one at the fourth. Despite there being a brand new sports car as the prize for the same at the 17th, the 33-year-old had to settle for a radio-controlled model and a magnum of champagne.

On winning his prize he said: “Now I have the little car, I want to win the big one.”