Victor Dubuisson held a two-shot lead at the end of the opening day of the Ballantine's Championship in Icheon, South Korea.
The Frenchman recovered from a double bogey on the par-four fourth to mix eight birdies with two bogeys in a round of 68.
That left Dubuisson on four under, two ahead of a group of five players which includes English pair Paul Casey and Mark Foster.
Casey picked up four shots with bogeys at the ninth and 11th holes, while Foster also had four birdies and two dropped shots to card 70.
Scotland's Richie Ramsey had a double bogey on the fifth, but sank five birdies to lie on two under, with Welshman Jamie Donaldson on the same mark after dropping a shot on the 18th.
Local favourite Jung Ji-ho completed the group.
Eleven players were tied for seventh on one under, among them Oliver Fisher and Ross Fisher of England, and Irishman Paul McGinley.
Windy conditions made life difficult for many of the competitors, but Dubuisson was more than satisfied with his efforts for the round.
"Very pleased with playing four under today," he told the European Tour website.
"My putting was really, really good today and I think it's the only way to achieve good scoring in these conditions.
"On the third hole the wind was from the left, and so on the fourth tee I thought the wind was going to be sort of left to right, but the wind was turning all the time.
"The wind just turned right to left and it went into the water. So I was not really upset after this double bogey because I didn't hit a bad shot.
"I did my best to get back my concentration, and I made two birdies, good putts on five and six, and that was the good turn today."
Casey, who only recently returned to playing following a shoulder injury, believes he can challenge for the title if he finds some consistency.
"I know if I play the golf I'm capable of, I've got a very good chance to win," said the Englishman.
"The way I played today, I need to keep that form going because there's a long way to go."
Latest first round scores in the European Tour Ballantine's Championship, Blackstone Golf Club, Icheon, Seoul, South Korea
(Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72):
Note: Play has been suspended due to darkness with six player left to finish their first rounds in the morning 07:30
68 Victor Dubuisson (Fra)
70 Paul Casey, Ji-Ho Jung (Kor), Richie Ramsay, Jamie Donaldson, Mark Foster
71 Peter Whiteford, Ross Fisher, Adam Scott (Aus), George Coetzee (Rsa), Thongchai Jaidee (Tha), Oliver Fisher, Felipe Aguilar (Chi), Paul McGinley, Marcus Fraser (Aus), Tae-kyu Lee (Kor), Anirban Lahiri (Ind)
72 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind), Shang-hung Kao (Tpe), Gareth Maybin, Do-hoon Kim (Kor), Oscar Floren (Swe), Graeme Storm, Prom Meesawat (Tha), Romain Wattel (Fra), Andrea Pavan (Ita), Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa), Bernd Wiesberger (Aut)
73 Damien McGrane, David Oh (USA), David Howell, Byeong-Hun An (Kor), Ho-sung Choi (Kor), Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha), Todd Hamilton (USA), Kyung-Tae Kim (Kor), Anthony Wall, Brett Rumford (Aus), Richard S Johnson (Swe), Digvijay Singh (Ind)
74 Soren Kjeldsen (Den), Ki-sang Lee (Kor), Jae Min Hwang (Kor), Berry Henson (USA), Andrew Tschudin (Aus), Heung-chol Joo (Kor), Shane Lowry, Y.E. Yang (Kor), Hyun-woo Ryu (Kor), Christian Nilsson (Swe), Chris Wood, Matthew Zions (Aus), Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind), James Morrison, Min-kyu Han (Kor), Daisuke Kataoka (Jpn)
75 Mikko Ilonen (Fin), Sung Lee (Kor), Danny Willett, Joel Sjoholm (Swe), Alexander Noren (Swe), In-Hoi Hur (Kor), Andrew Dodt (Aus), Siddikur Rahman (Ban), Sang-hee Lee (Kor), Jin-ho Choi (Kor), Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg), Tjaart Van Der Walt (Rsa), Dong Min Lee (Kor), Sang-moon Bae (Kor), Keith Horne (Rsa), Ian Poulter
76 Sung-kug Park (Kor), Robert Jan Derksen (Ned), Seung-hyuk Kim (Kor), Soren Hansen (Den), Mars Pucay (Phi), Kyung-nam Kang (Kor), Scott Jamieson, Marc Warren, Michael Jonzon (Swe), Gregory Havret (Fra), Shiv Kapur (Ind), Estanislao Goya (Arg), Wen-Tang Lin (Tpe), Kieran Pratt (Aus), Jason Knutzon (USA), Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Tha), Marcus Both (Aus), Soon-sang Hong (Kor), Hyung-sung Kim (Kor), Jyoti Randhawa (Ind), Thomas Levet (Fra)
77 In-choon Hwang (Kor), Wei Chih Lu (Tha), David Gleeson (Aus), Oliver Wilson, Darren Clarke, Chih-bing Lam (Sin), Ross Bain, Sujjan Singh (Ind), David Drysdale, Min-chang Lee (Kor), Peter Karmis (Rsa), Joong Kyung Mo (Kor), Joonas Granberg (Fin), Richard Sterne (Rsa)
78 Byung-jun Kim (Kor), Steve Webster, Panupol Pittayarat (Tha), Robert Coles, Richard McEvoy, Joon-won Park (Kor), Todd Baek (Nzl), Scott Hend (Aus), Min-gyu Cho (Kor), Go-Woong Choi (Kor), Seong Ho Lee (Kor)
79 Sang-hyun Park (Kor), Zaw Moe (Kor), Himmat Singh Rai (Ind), Anthony Kang (USA), Hyuk-jae Choi (Kor), Tetsuji Hiratsuka (Jpn), Richard Finch, Jbe Kruger (Rsa), Dae-hyun Kim (Kor), Wen-chong Liang (Chn), Chapchai Nirat (Tha), Do-kyu Park (Kor), Joon woo Choi (Kor)
80 Carlos Del Moral (Spa), George Murray, Darren Beck (Aus), Jin-won Lee (Kor), Jaco Van Zyl (Rsa), Mardan Mamat (Sin), Seong-yong Kim (Kor), Pablo Martin (Spa)
81 Pariya Junhasavasdikul (Tha), Fabrizio Zanotti (Par), Jung-ho Yoon (Kor)
82 Yih-Shin Chan (Tpe), Angelo Que (Phi)
83 Hennie Otto (Rsa), David Lipsky (USA), Kenneth Ferrie
84 Thorbjorn Olesen (Den)
85 Jong Yul Suk (Kor)
RTD: Rikard Karlberg (Swe)
