The World No.31 – the top-ranked player in the field – carded eight birdies and a solitary bogey to record a seven-under-par 65 and enjoy a one-shot lead over former Ryder Cup team-mate Jamie Donaldson.

Donaldson – who secured the winning point at Gleneagles in 2014 – birdied five of the last six holes in his 66, with Germany's Yannik Paul, English amateur John Gough, James Morrison and Spain's Sebastian Garcia all sitting four-under-par.

"I felt very comfortable with my game from the first shot," said Rose, who won the British Masters in 2002 and hosted the event in 2018.

"I hit a beautiful little wedge into the 10th hole, made a nice birdie there and I think that's the cleanest round of golf I've played in a long, long time.

"I really drove the ball well, the irons were being struck pretty cleanly and I actually hadn't made many putts through the front nine to be four-under so it was great to manage to make a few coming in.

"It all amounted to a very good day's work."

Asked about being a short-priced favourite to win the 2.7-million-pound event, Rose added: "It's obviously somewhat of a compliment but it doesn't mean anything, does it? You have to go and play well.

"I really drove the ball well, the irons were being struck pretty cleanly and I actually hadn't made many putts through the front nine to be four-under so it was great to manage to make a few coming in." – Justin Rose.

"Quality players, if they play well, they are going to be hard to beat, but the hard part is playing well. Obviously, I've done the first step, got off to a good start, but got a long way to go this week."

Donaldson was just one-under-par after 12 holes of his round before picking up shots on the 13th, 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th.

"Nothing was going in, it was all a bit slow at the start and suddenly it all kicked in on the back nine," the 47-year-old Welshman said.

"Five in six holes to finish, so yeah, fantastic.”

The pick of the Aussies was Min Woo Lee, who carded an even-par 72. It was a whirlwind day for the West Australian, carding five birdies and five bogeys to put himself in a share for 54th position.

The leading three players on Sunday evening – who are not already exempt – will earn a place in next month's Open Championship.

Paul currently holds an automatic qualifying place for the Ryder Cup and overcame a back injury which forced him out of last week's BMW International on home soil to card an opening 68.

"I'm obviously really pleased with my round. I flew here on Tuesday morning, thinking I'd have a 30 percent chance that I could tee it up," said Paul.

Defending champion Thorbjorn Olesen is five shots off the lead after an opening round of 70.