Lawrie among leaders in Shanghai
Ireland's Peter Lawrie was among the leaders in Shanghai after carding a five-under-par 67 in the first round of the BMW Asian Open.
Lawrie became Ireland's first European Tour rookie of the year in 2003 and followed that up with a consistent season last year, but is still searching for a maiden victory.
"It's the number one goal for me but I'm not getting impatient, not in the slightest," insisted the 31-year-old Dubliner. "Trying to get yourself in position to win is the hard thing.
"Raphael Jacquelin has got himself into a lot of good positions recently and I think he is due a win too."
Meanwhile, co-leader and pre-tournament favourite Ernie Els gave himself eight out of 10 after he claimed a share of the lead in the BMW Asian Open in Shanghai.
Els fired six birdies and one bogey in sweltering conditions at Tomson Golf Club to join six other players at the top of a congested leaderboard.
French duo Jean Van de Velde and Raphael Jacquelin, , England's Simon Wakefield, New Zealand's Eddie Lee and Australian Larry Austin also recorded rounds of 67.
Colin Montgomerie needed to birdie two of his last three holes just to post a one-over-par 73, while Nick Faldo had 16 pars, one birdie and one bogey in a 72.
Luke Donald, third on his Masters debut earlier this month, returned a 70 while Ryder Cup team-mate Paul Casey recorded a roller-coaster 73 with four birdies and five bogeys.
Els has been working on changes to his posture since a hugely disappointing display at the US Masters earlier this month, and insists it is still a work in progress despite finishing sixth in Beijing last week.
"I still look at the pictures David Leadbetter sent me and I spoke to him on the phone so we are on the same page," said the world number three.
"I know when I'm doing it right, the ball just feels right off the club face and goes in the right direction and I did that for most of the day today. You can't start pushing it too much in the first round but I'm looking forward to the rest of the week now.
"It's very close to getting an eight out of 10."
Els birdied the first two holes and added another from 30ft at the sixth before his only bogey on the seventh, a poor drive meaning he could only find a greenside bunker with his approach.
The South African was quickly back on track however, a superb approach to the par three eighth - where Peter O'Malley had recorded a hole-in-one 20 minutes earlier - setting up an easy birdie.
Els then smashed a three-wood on to the back of the green on the 570-yard par five ninth to set up another birdie and outward nine of 32. Birdie attempts on the next three holes narrowly failed before Els pitched to six feet on the par five 13th to claim his sixth birdie of the day.
Van de Velde has been plagued by a knee injury for more than two years and has undergone two bouts of reconstructive surgery.
He made several attempts to return to the tour on a medical exemption last season but missed the cut in eight of his 14 tournaments and was in too much pain to attempt to earn his card at the qualifying school.
As a result the popular Frenchman has to rely on invites, a situation which would have been avoided if he had taken anything less than a triple-bogey seven on the final hole of the Open Championship in 1999.
Victory at Carnoustie, which eventually went to Paul Lawrie in a play-off, would have given Van de Velde a 10-year exemption.
"I don't feel comfortable asking for favours but that's where I am right now," said Van de Velde after four birdies and an eagle this morning.
"I haven't only made enemies it seems and I truly appreciate the people helping me. I was going to enter the tour school but I could hardly walk to the bakery then so sadly I have to beg.
"I am not putting pressure on myself, I am just concentrating on trying to play. Mind you, I say that and tomorrow I might be choking like a dog!"
Wakefield revealed he had been struggling with a foot injury before receiving a late call-up to last week's tournament in Beijing.
The 31-year-old from Newcastle-under-Lyme, who lost his card at the end of last season but regained it through the qualifying school, said: "My sponsor's girlfriend, who is a chiropodist, had a look at it and said it might be a problem with the heel but I had a massage from the physio before I went out and I didn't have any problems today."
