The 44-year-old admitted his body-clock "did not have a clue" what time it was and struggled to get through Wednesday's pro-am, but looked to have enjoyed the good night's sleep he was desperate for.

Faldo opened with two pars before an eagle on the par-five third took him to two under par, just two shots off the lead held by France's Sebastian Delagrange on a tough, windy opening day.

Jose Maria Olazabal had also eagled the third in his first-round 70 and was delighted with his score in such difficult conditions.

"I'm very pleased, I think it's a good round. The wind was very strong and it was difficult to score well today," the double Masters champion said.

"The eagle on the third, my 12th hole, was the big turnaround. Before then I struck the ball quite well and didn't score as well as I should have.

"Then I made a huge putt from around 45 feet there from the edge of the green and that helped the score a lot."

Another birdie from six feet on the seventh cancelled out his one bogey of the day on the 12th and Olazabal added: "It was very difficult out there. I've been hitting sometimes three clubs more than usual and the greens are very difficult.

"We're not used to putting on this type of grass in Europe and it's very difficult for me to read the breaks properly."

Barry Lane also carded a two-under-par 70, and Ian Poulter was just one shot worse off after a 71.

Vijay Singh, who won back to back tournaments in Asia earlier this year, also had to settle for a 71, while New Zealand's Michael Campbell was round in 72, level par.