Golf/China Open:Raphael Jacquelin and Ming-Jie Huang share the lead on three under par after the first round of the China Open in tough scoring conditions at a windy Shanghai Silport Golf Club.

Only 14 of the 156-strong field broke par as blustery conditions, combined with deep rough and firm greens, made low scoring difficult.

Frenchman Jacquelin was delighted after his 68. "I'm very pleased with that," he said. "I've been working on the putting green and the feel is very good. I missed two short putts at the end but on a day like this it's hard to play without any mistakes."

However, Jacquelin feels the elements can work to his advantage after finishing second at the Estoril Open in Portugal in similar circumstances two weeks ago.

China's Huang who was in the first group out in the afternoon and got off to a terrible start after playing the first three holes in three over. However Huang, who had shown no previous form this season to suggest he would be a contender, sank four birdies on the back nine, including a crucial four at the 18th, to haul himself to the top of the leaderboard. "I targeted to finish one over so I'm very happy," he said. "I putted and chipped well."

Gary Rusnak is a shot further back on two under after a strong finish saw the American record a 69, while 11 players are bunched at one under par, including Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell, England's Yasin Ali and Denmark's Thomas Bjorn.

Rusnak felt it was solid play on the greens that brought him a round of 69. "I was putting really well," he said. "I had 23 putts today and started the back nine with six consecutive one-putts. But it's just the start, nothing more."

Bjorn, fresh from competing in the Masters at Augusta last week, also admitted it was hard work grinding out a score of 70.

"It is almost that difficult to hit the fairways in these conditions that you are better off hitting a driver and getting as close as you can to the green, even if it lands in the rough," he said. "Then you can try and hit the middle of the green and two-putt. That was the strategy today."

Damien McGrane finished even par and, despite a bogey on the last, was happy with his afternoon's work. "The golf was steady," he said. "I holed a few nice putts early on but gave them away on the back nine.

"But it's windy, the greens are firm and the rough is long which makes getting under par difficult."

Welshman Garry Houston also shot a 71 after making his fourth birdie of the day on the 18th, while compatriot Mark Pilkington is also in the hunt after a 72 put him in the same group as English duo Gary Emerson and David Griffith and Irishman Peter Lawrie at one over par.

There was a strong English presence at two over par with Tom Whitehouse, Miles Tunnicliff, Marcus Higley and Graeme Storm all recording 73s.

The most eventful round of the day belonged to Scott Drummond, the Scot carding three eagles, three birdies, three bogeys, one double bogey, a triple-bogey and a 10 at the 13th in his 76.

First Round Scores

China Open, Shanghai Silport GC

(Irish and Brit unless stated, par 71):

68 - Ming Jie Huang (Chn), Raphael Jacquelin (Fra).

69 - Gary Rusnak (USA).

70 - Richard Lee (Nzl), Robert Jan Derksen (Ned), Yasin Ali, Graeme McDowell, Christopher Hanell (Swe), Unho Park (Aus), Zhi-Feng Qiu (Tpe), Thomas Bjorn (Den), Michael Jonzon (Swe), Richard Sterne (Rsa), Adam Blyth (Aus).

71 - Damien McGrane, Garry Houston, James Kingston (Rsa), Marcel Siem (Ger), Maarten Lafeber (Ned), Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa), Edward Loar (USA), Thongchai Jaidee (Tha), Scott Hend (Aus), Prayad Marksaeng (Tha), Andres Romero (Arg), Keith Horne (Rsa).

72 - Shiv Kapur (Ind), David Griffiths, Soren Kjeldsen (Den), Steven Jeppesen (Swe), Peter Lawrie, Andrew McLardy (Rsa), Gary Emerson, Kane Webber (USA), Jason Knutzon (USA), Brett Rumford (Aus), Peter Hanson (Swe), Mark Pilkington, Prom Meesawat (Tha), Markus Brier (Aut).

73 - Mahal Pearce (Nzl), Edward Michaels (USA), Mikko Ilonen (Fin), Simon Yates, Graeme Storm, Miles Tunnicliff, Gregory Havret (Fra), Ter-Chang Wang (Tpe), Gaurav Ghei (Ind), David Gleeson (Aus), Wen-Tang Lin (Tai), Kyron Sullivan, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind), Lee Sung (Kor), Adam Groom (Aus), Mardan Mamat (Sin), Carl Suneson (Spa), Thammanoon Srirot (Tha), Marcus Higley, Stephen Gallacher, Tom Whitehouse, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra), Danny Chia (Mal).

74 - Bryan Saltus (USA), Gareth Davies, Soren Hansen (Den), Benn Barham, Wen Teh Lu (Tpe), Sven Struver (Ger), Stephen Dodd, Brad Kennedy (Aus), Joakim Backstrom (Swe), Rem Han (Chn), Peter Gustafsson (Swe), Scott Strange (Aus), Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha), Terry Pilkadaris (Aus), Zhi-Jin Xiao (Tpe), Gary Simpson (Aus), Gary Murphy, Marcus Both (Aus), Gui Ming Liao (Chn), Andrew Marshall, David Bransdon (Aus), Gavin Flint (Aus), Peter O'Malley (Aus).

75 - Christian Cevaer (Fra), Jarmo Sandelin (Swe), David Frost (Rsa), Chris Rodgers, Simon Wakefield, Tony Carolan (Aus), Hendrik Buhrmann (Rsa), Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa), Kangchun Wu (Chn), Marcus Fraser (Aus).

76 - Rick Gibson (Can), Rahil Gangjee (Ind), Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg), Lian-Wei Zhang (Chn), Scott Drummond, Amandeep Johl (Ind), Adam Le Vesconte (Aus), Wen-chong Liang (Chn), Chapchai Nirat (Tha), Chinarat Phadungsil (Tha), Angelo Que (Phi), Lei Shang (Tpe), Barry Lane, Simon Hurd, Chao Li (Chn).

77 - Wei Chih Lu (Tha), Frankie Minoza (Phi), Andrew Butterfield, Ross Fisher, Jose-Filipe Lima (Por), Marc Warren, Zeng Fa Qi (Chn), Richard Finch, Cheng-tsung Pan (Chn).

78 - Christian Nilsson (Swe), Shao Guang Zheng (Chn), Anton Haig (Rsa), Clay Devers (USA), Chawalit Plaphol (Tha), Anthony Kang (USA), Jun-Won Park (Kor), Wei-Huang Wu (Tpe), Han Lee (USA), Iain Steel (Mal), Jong Yul Suk (Kor), Keng-chi Lin (Tai).

79 - Airil Rizman (Mal), Matthew Millar (Aus), Ted Oh (Kor), Johan Axgren (Swe).

80 - Yong-Huan Huang (Tpe), Juvic Pagunsan (Phi), Wen-gen Zheng (Hkg), Hao Yuan (Chn), Wook-Soon Kang (Kor), Steven O'Hara, Anda Liu (Chn).

81 - Lei Gao (Chn), Xiao-ma Chen (Chn).

82 - Jiang-Feng Ye (Chn), Scott Barr (Aus), Fu-chiang Pan (Chn), Jun Cheng (Chn).

83 - Shaun P Webster, Shu Tao Gu (Chn), Barry Hume.

84 - Cheng-de Jin (Chn).

85 - Cheng-wei Zhang (Chn).

86 - Yongzong Tan (Chn).

Retired: Simon Dyson.