English golfers dominate the leaderboard after the first round of the Deutsche Bank Players' Championship of Europe in Hamburg.
Simon Khan holds a one shot lead - after a seven-under-par 65 - over compatriots Oliver Wilson and Lee Slattery, and the latter hopes success this weekend can soften the blow after his home was flooded.
Ireland's nearest challenger is Damien McGrane on three-under-par.
Gary Murphy is a shot behind him on one under, while Peter Lawrie and Paul McGinley are level par and Portrush golfer Graeme McDowell is one over.
Slattery's flat in a converted nursing home just 300 yards from Royal Birkdale suffered £30,000 worth of damage in the recent floods, and his brother is currently handling the clean up operation.
Thankfully the 28-year-old from Southport is covered by insurance and could return home comforted by a winner's cheque of £400,000 if he can claim his first European Tour title in Hamburg.
"It flooded a few weeks back so I've had a lot on my plate but luckily I moved in with my brother and he's dealing with everything," said Slattery after a first-round 66.
Slattery was tipped for a bright future after winning the Challenge Tour in 2004 but finished 144th on the Order of Merit the following year and 91st last season.
"I won the Challenge Tour by playing just 14 events and played fabulous that year," added Slattery, who carded four birdies and an eagle from just four feet on the third hole in a flawless round.
"But coming off that year you start changing things. You see it all the time with players and God knows why.
"I made the decision five weeks ago to go back to my former coach, Alan Thompson at Heswall, and I feel at the moment I'm playing very similar to that year on the Challenge Tour."
Khan came close to a second European Tour title in the French Open recently, leading at halfway before finishing third, and memories came flooding back of his victory in the Wales Open in 2004 when he was four under for his first three holes today.
"It reminded me of Wales when I shot a 61 in the second round," said the 35-year-old from Essex, who began birdie-birdie-eagle. "It was a great start and when you do something like that you have to try to forget about, just as you'd try to forget a bad start.
"You have to think you're back to level par and stay positive."
A bogey on the fourth no doubt helped in that regard but Khan recovered with four more birdies thanks to working hard on his putting last week instead of watching the Open.
"I was very disappointed to miss out on the Open, I played in the last two and it's the ultimate for me, so I didn't watch much and worked on my putting instead," he added. "I went back to my old technique with the index finger down the shaft of the putter like Padraig Harrington and it seems to work."
It was a good day for the English with Surrey's Zane Scotland among those on five under par and Paul Casey a shot further back after a 68.
Scotland, who shot to fame when he qualified for the Open days before his 17th birthday in 1999, was level par after 10 holes but carded five birdies in the next seven holes.
Scotland does not have a full European Tour card but is looking to earn one via the second tier Challenge Tour, and finished second in Austria last week after failing to qualify for a return to Carnoustie.
