Del Rey went low, Zhou thrilled the home crowds and Beef was going with the flow in round one of the Volvo China Open.
Here is everything you need to know from Thursday at Enhance Anting Golf Club.
Del Rey leads the way
Alejandro del Rey carded a stunning 61 to edge ahead of teenage sensation Yanhan Zhou and open up a one-shot lead after day one.
The Spaniard was making his first start of the Asian Swing but showed no signs of rust as he carded an eagle, nine birdies and a bogey to get to ten under.
He had previously played every event of the International Swing and two events before the festive break – missing just a single cut – and felt taking some time away from competitive golf had done him good.
“I thought about it as an off-season,” he said. “Go back home and get into the gym quite a bit and practise what I need to work on.
“The winter break is not as long as I would like so I thought it was a great time of year to do an off-season and work on stuff.”
With no shortage of rain in the build-up and preferred lies in place, it was a low scoring day in Shanghai, with South African Shaun Norris at eight under, one clear of Austrian Bernd Wiesberger.
Zhou puts on a show
Zhou, who only turned 18 earlier this month, thrilled the home crowds as he got to nine under through 12 holes before parring his way home.
He already has 11 wins on the China Tour, with seven of those coming last season as he romped to the Order of Merit title as a 17-year-old, and is clearly comfortable on home soil after also finishing third at last month’s Hainan Classic presented by MAEXTRO.
After four birdies in a row from the fifth were followed by an eagle on the tenth and another gain on the 12th there was talk of a 59 in the air and, while that did not come to pass, Zhou was left to reflect on another remarkable day in one of the game’s most exciting developing careers.
“I’m feeling great,” he said. “Seven birdies and an eagle, I just feel ‘oh my God!’.
“I played well on the front nine but on the back nine the wind is getting tricky and I coped with it pretty good.
“It felt crazy on my first ten holes, I just made so many birdies and so many pars so I feel very pleased."
Short stick gives teenage kicks
While Zhao was on song with all aspects of his game, his putting was particularly impressive.
Beef taking the pressure off
Andrew Johnston took another step on his long comeback trail with his lowest DP World Tour round in over 18 months.
The fan favourite is making just his 23rd start in the last five seasons, having sat out the entirety of 2022 and played just once in 2023 and 2025.
Earlier this year, it was revealed he had a complete ligament tear and a partial tear in two other tendons in his thumb after a series of earlier misdiagnoses.
After months of recovery since undergoing the second of two surgeries in as many years, the 37-year-old made a welcome return to action at last season’s Genesis Championship in South Korea.
This week is his sixth start of the 2026 season on a medical exemption and after missing four of his previous five cuts, the man known as Beef revealed a change in attitude had contributed to his opening 66.
“I tried to stay really relaxed,” he said. “I looked over the few events that I’ve played the last couple of months and I’ve gone in probably expecting way too much.
“The golf game has felt good in practice and then I’ve come out on the golf course and I’ve been really uptight and tense and trying to force a score too much.
“I said to (caddie) Jess (McAvoy) today, ‘I’m just going to try and hit the shots and we’re going to giggle the whole way round and have a good time’.
“It clearly works a lot better than being uptight and anxious and trying to force a score.”
No putter required
The soft conditions may have made regular scoring relatively simple for some of the world's best but that did not mean that the spectacular was not also on show.
