India's Arjun Atwal shrugged off the effects of a 16-hour journey and no practice round to card a course-record 62 in the first round of the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open.
Atwal fired an eagle and seven birdies at Heritage Golf Club to finish nine under par, four shots ahead of Sebastian Heisele, Louis de Jager, Miguel Tabuena and Adilson da Silva.
Pre-tournament favourite Louis Oosthuizen was part of a 13-strong group on four under which included former champion George Coetzee and England's Laurie Canter.
"I was in Kuala Lumpur the last two days to announce the players for the EurAsia Cup and I had some media activities to do," said Atwal, who will captain Team Asia against a European side led by Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn in January.
"I had no practice round and went straight on the first tee. I'm pleased and shocked.
"I took a very long route coming here. I came through Dubai and it took me 16 hours to get here. I was tired and I didn't really expect anything. Sometimes when you don't expect much, you get a lot out of it.
"I found it pretty tough out there but I didn't make any mistakes and I had a hot putter. I'm looking forward to some rest and will see what happens tomorrow."
Oosthuizen, who is one of only two players in the world's top 100 in the field, carded five birdies and a solitary bogey in his 67, while fellow former Open champion Darren Clarke struggled to a 76.
Source: PA
