Peter Hanson maintained the momentum he gained earlier this week from the hole-in-one which secured a place in the US Open to claim a share of the lead in the first round of the European Open at the London Golf Club in Kent.

Hanson aced the 17th hole at Walton Heath on Monday, holing a six-iron from 202 yards, to qualify for next month's major at Bethpage near New York. And the Swede today followed up with a six-under-par 66 to match the score posted by South African Thomas Aiken.

He said: “Holing in one like that gave me an enormous boost. It was like I got a rush of energy out of it, and I carried that with me here.”

Aiken, who has been struggling to make ends meet on the tour, gathered his own momentum coming down the stretch. Having started at the 10th, he shot six birdies as he covered the front nine in 30.

England's Simon Khan was involved in a five-way tie on 67.

World No4 Sergio Garcia eagled the fifth on the way to a three-under-par 69 but Henrik Stenson, recent winner of the Players' Championship, may struggle to beat the halfway cut after a four-over 76.

The Swedish Ryder Cup star missed the cut in last week's BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth but said: “It's not a crisis. There were a lot of good things today even though I was not scoring great.”

Shane Lowry, the Irishman making his professional debut after winning the Irish Open a fortnight ago, was four-over at the turn.