Paul Casey recorded six birdies and an eagle to shoot a 7-under-par 63 and assume the opening-round lead at LIV Golf Hong Kong on Friday.

The Englishman is looking to overcome the disappointment of 2024, when a bogey on No. 18 at Hong Kong Golf Club knocked him out of a three-person playoff eventually won by Mexico's Abraham Ancer.

Chasing Casey is a pack of six players, all two shots back after rounds of 65. In that group are Spaniards Sergio Garcia and Luis Masaveu, Sebastian Munoz of Colombia, Martin Kaymer of Germany, Peter Uihlein and wild-card player Chieh-Po Lee, the LIV Golf Promotions winner from Taiwan.

A group of six more players stands another shot back at 4-under. That list that includes Bryson DeChambeau, who never has won a pro tournament on a course measuring fewer than 6,900 yards. The Hong Kong course played at 6,691 yards on Friday.

That was a comfortable length for Casey, who has never won in Hong Kong.