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Hilversum, Netherlands - Graeme Storm of England lived up to his surname in shooting a course record 7-under 63 to lead the centenary KLM Open at Hilversum by two shots in the opening round on Thursday.
Storm birdied three of his closing four holes on the Hilversumsche course.
His effort was three shots fewer than his previous best score in the premier Dutch event.
"I made the birdies when I gave myself the chances and I managed to get up and down when I missed the greens," he said.
"I was in contention for three-and-a-half rounds in Switzerland last week after struggling in recent months. So I am just happy to get a round like that under my belt.
"I've also got the caddie David Lynn had when he won this event in 2004 so he has plenty of experience, and hopefully I can continue playing well this week and he will be there for me."
Storm teed up in the Netherlands ranked 353rd in the world and, more importantly, 114th in the Race to Dubai. He's desperate to end the season inside the top 115 to retain full European Tour membership for next season.
"Keeping my card for 2013 is the goal now," he said.
"At the start of the year it was finishing top 60 on the Race to Dubai but I'm a long way from that goal now so the big incentive in the golf I have left this year is to be here again next year."
Three players, Martin Kaymer, Frenchman Raphael Jacquelin and Paraguay's Fabrizio Zanotti, also surpassed the previous course record with their 5-under 65s to tie for second place.
Kaymer handed playing partner and Europe Ryder Cup captain Jose Maria Olazabal a reminder of his capabilities in his penultimate event before heading to the cup at Medinah outside of Chicago
Kaymer, who won the KLM Open two years ago, capped his round with an eagle at the 12th hole where he holed a 20-foot putt.
"Jose Maria spoke to me after the round and said I did well today and also to 'just keep doing what you are doing, I trust you'," said Kaymer.
Kaymer was seeking a first win in 10 months.
Europe team-mate Peter Hanson of Sweden also produced a confidence-lifting 68 in his last event before the Ryder Cup.
Scores from the European PGA Tour Dutch Open at the par-70 course on Thursday in Hilversum:
63 Graeme Storm (Britain) 63 65 Fabrizio Zanotti (Paraguay) 65
Raphael Jacquelin (France) 65
Martin Kaymer (Germany) 65 66 Felipe Aguilar (Chile) 66
Craig Lee (Britain) 66
Danny Willett (Britain) 66
Peter Hanson (Sweden) 66
Steve Webster (Britain) 66
Alejandro Canizares (Spain) 66 67 Paul Waring (Britain) 67
Oliver Fisher (Britain) 67
Paul Casey (Britain) 67
Tommy Fleetwood (Britain) 67
Richard Bland (Britain) 67
Richard Kind (Netherlands) 67
Andrew Johnston (Britain) 67
Shiv Kapur (India) 67
Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spain) 67 68 Mark Foster (Britain) 68
Scott Jamieson (Britain) 68
Bernd Wiesberger (Austria) 68
Michael Campbell (New Zealand) 68
Reinier Saxton (Netherlands) 68
Jaco Van Zyl (South Africa) 68
Henrik Stenson (Sweden) 68 69 Andrew Dodt (Australia) 69
David Lynn (Britain) 69
Benjamin Hebert (France) 69
Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain) 69
Pablo Larrazabal (Spain) 69
S.S.P. Chowrasia (India) 69
Lorenzo Gagli (Italy) 69
Lee Slattery (Britain) 69
Niclas Fasth (Sweden) 69
Sam Walker (Britain) 69
Bradley Dredge (Britain) 69
Steven O'Hara (Britain) 69
Phillip Price (Britain) 69
Johan Edfors (Sweden) 69
Chris Wood (Britain) 69
Gareth Maybin (Britain) 69
Marcus Fraser (Australia) 69
Marc Warren (Britain) 69
Peter Lawrie (Ireland) 69
Richard Green (Australia) 69
Gregory Bourdy (France) 69
Joel Sjoeholm (Sweden) 69
Andy Sullivan (Britain) 69 70 David Drysdale (Britain) 70
Robert-Jan Derksen (Netherlands) 70
Emiliano Grillo (Argentina) 70
Ross Fisher (Britain) 70
Jamie Donaldson (Britain) 70
Estanislao Goya (Argentina) 70
Richard McEvoy (Britain) 70
Peter Hedblom (Sweden) 70
Inder van Weerelt (Netherlands) 70
Richard Finch (Britain) 70
Darren Fichardt (South Africa) 70
Ricardo Gonzalez (Argentina) 70
Richard Johnson (Sweden) 70
Nicolas Colsaerts (Belgium) 70
Simon Dyson (Britain) 70
Joost Luiten (Netherlands) 70
Maarten Lafeber (Netherlands) 70
Markus Brier (Austria) 70
Federico Colombo (Italy) 70
Anders Hansen (Denmark) 70
Matthew Nixon (Britain) 70
Damien McGrane (Ireland) 70
David Howell (Britain) 70
Richard Sterne (South Africa) 70
Matthew Zions (Australia) 70
Gary Orr (Britain) 70
Andrea Pavan (Italy) 70 71 Simon Thornton (Ireland) 71
Tjaart Van der Walt (South Africa) 71
Sam Little (Britain) 71
Oliver Wilson (Britain) 71
Knut Borsheim (Norway) 71
Matteo Manassero (Italy) 71
Tom Lewis (Britain) 71
Richie Ramsay (Britain) 71
Floris de Haas (Netherlands) 71
Thomas Norret (Denmark) 71
Matthew Baldwin (Britain) 71
Jorge Campillo (Spain) 71
Jochen Lupprian (Germany) 71
Robert Coles (Britain) 71
Garth Mulroy (South Africa) 71
Ricardo Santos (Portugal) 71
Soren Kjeldsen (Denmark) 71
James Kingston (South Africa) 71
Fredrik Andersson Hed (Sweden) 71
Thomas Aiken (South Africa) 71
Jose Maria Olazabal (Spain) 71
James Morrison (Britain) 71
Peter Whiteford (Britain) 71
Alex Cejka (Germany) 71
Stephen Dodd (Britain) 71
Max Albertus (Netherlands) 71
Romain Wattel (France) 71
Shaun Micheel (U.S.) 71 72 Robbie van West (Netherlands) 72
Andrew Marshall (Britain) 72
Tim Sluiter (Netherlands) 72
Thomas Levet (France) 72
Ignacio Garrido (Spain) 72
Julien Quesne (France) 72
Joe Dean (Britain) 72
David Horsey (Britain) 72
Jamie Elson (Britain) 72
Daan Huizing (Netherlands) 72
Alex Haindl (South Africa) 72
Victor Dubuisson (France) 72
Darren Clarke (Britain) 72
David Dixon (Britain) 72
Keith Horne (South Africa) 72
Oscar Floren (Sweden) 72
Robin Kind (Netherlands) 72
Hennie Otto (South Africa) 72 73 Joakim Lagergren (Sweden) 73
Robert Karlsson (Sweden) 73
Rich Beem (U.S.) 73
Fernand Osther (Netherlands) 73
Todd Hamilton (U.S.) 73
Stephen Gallacher (Britain) 73
Rhys Davies (Britain) 73
Brett Rumford (Australia) 73
Robin Swane (Netherlands) 73 74 Simon Khan (Britain) 74
Shane Lowry (Ireland) 74
Dylan Frittelli (South Africa) 74
Danny Denison (Britain) 74
Paul McGinley (Ireland) 74
Mikael Lundberg (Sweden) 74
George Murray (Britain) 74
Christian Nilsson (Sweden) 74
Rowin Caron (Netherlands) 74
Guido van der Valk (Netherlands) 74 75 Michael Jonzon (Sweden) 75
Sam Hutsby (Britain) 75
Jeong Jin (South Korea) 75
Jamie Moul (Britain) 75 76 Gary Boyd (Britain) 76
Taco Remkes (Netherlands) 76
Edouard Dubois (France) 76
Jose Manuel Lara (Spain) 76 77 Sven Struever (Germany) 77 78 Kenneth Ferrie (Britain) 78
Pelle Edberg (Sweden) 78 79 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (France) 79
Sven Maurits (Netherlands) 79
Gregory Havret (France) 79
Carlos Del Moral (Spain) 79
