Matthieu Pavon carded the lowest round of his DP World Tour career in the opening round of the DS Automobiles Italian Open at Marco Simone, firing nine birdies and a single bogey at the par-3 17th on his way to an 8-under 63 to take a two-shot lead.

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“All in all it was just great playing. Nothing bad to say about today. I was really, really solid off the tee, probably only missed two fairways today – and every time it was by a few inches.

“The putting was amazing also. I dropped a lot of putts. I think I probably made nine putts on my front nine, which is quite funny. Everything was just excellent today.

“I was not really sure about a low, low score like this. I knew I could do great, but that great, I’m a bit surprised.”

A maiden win on Sunday would help the Frenchman to get Luke Donald’s attention for Ryder Cup selection.

Germany’s Maximillian Kieffer lies in solo second place at 6-under followed by China’s Ashun Wu and France’s Julien Guerrier in third place at 5-under.

England’s Todd Clements shot a 67 for a share of fourth place at 4-under alongside Finland’s Tapio Pulkkanen, Spain‘s Jorge Campillo and Germany‘s Marcel Siem.

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Related: It will be tough to give Europe big advantage on Ryder Cup course – Luke Donald

As the home skipper, Donald is allowed to dictate how Marco Simone Golf Club will play for this year’s contest against the United States.