Rory McIlroy takes one shot lead on day one of the Lake Malaren Shanghai Masters

· Calm conditions provide perfect platform for birdies at Shanghai event

· Hunter Mahan 'happy to be one shot back'

· Paul Casey, Ian Poulter and Padraig Harrington two shots off leader

· John Daly, hits first ball of US$5 million dollar and finishes with 69

· Chao Li flies the flag for Chinese golfers with 4 under par round

Shanghai, October 27, 2011.

For Immediate Release.

The elite field of international players got down to the serious business of competition play on day one of the Lake Malaren Shanghai Masters in the North European Luodian New Town project on the outskirts of Shanghai city centre today.

World Number three and 2011 US Open champion, Rory McIlroy, is leading after a bogey free round, that had five of his 8 birdies on the back nine, to finish on 64. Commenting on his opening round Mcllroy said 'Today, very happy I played well from start to finish, gave myself plenty of birdie opportunities and a nice little run on the back nine.'

One shot behind McIlroy is American Hunter Mahan on seven under 65, who said of the good conditions, 'The wind was down, the greens are holding and the course is set up well. My plan will be to let the course and conditions dictate the way I play for the rest of the tournament. I am happy to be one shot behind at this stage of the tournament but there is a lot of golf left to play.'

Three players are tied on five under 67; Englishmen Paul Casey and Ian Poulter along with three time major winner Padraig Harrington of Ireland. Casey had nine birdies in his round but hit trouble on the sixth hole which cost him two shots. After hitting left he described the effort to rectify the errant shot as 'actually a simple double bogey.' He completed his round and a 67 to stay in the hunt with countryman Ian Poulter.

Poulter played consistent golf managing six birdies and one bogey to put himself in the chasing group after the first round. 'One less than everyone else!' he quipped when asked what it will take to win the event and US$2 million winner's prize. He then went on to say 'I was a bit disappointed that I wasn't able to take advantage of the birdies on some of the par 5's and that's what you have to do here, I'm sure Rory (McIlroy) did that for his score.'

The China presence was led by Li Chao who had a round of 68, four off the leader McIlroy. When asked about his play he said 'I birdied all the holes that I tried and that was a good result for me as one of the local players.' Countryman Hu Mu is a further two shots back on 70.

Joining Li on four under 68 is Anthony Kim from the US. Korean YE Yang, Sweden's Robert Karlsson, South African Retief Goosen and World number two Lee Westwood along with John Daly are all one shot further back at three under 69.

The start of the day featured the first ball of the tournament being hit by crowd favourite Daly in a round that included 4 birdies and a bogey. Daly, echoed the views of many players competing today when he complimented the 'Five week course', a reference to the way the organizers mobilized to get the course set up for the tournament. In a post round interview he said 'It is amazing what they have done here, the fairways are really good and when you read a putt on the greens you can go for it, all the players are talking about how good it is here'

The US$5 million prize money event for the 30 man field continues tomorrow until Sunday 30 November play commences at 9:30.Members of the public are welcome on all four days of the event in Shanghai North European Luodian New Town Project, Baoshan District

SRE Group

SRE Group Ltd. is a well-known integrated property developer in Shanghai. Established in 1993, it was listed separately on the Main Board of SEHK in 1999, stock code: 1207. The real estate brand of 'Oasis Garden', 'Richgate', 'Skyway' and 'Albany' enjoys good reputation both domestically and abroad. In 2003, SRE was named one of the Top 50 Property Developers of Shanghai by SRETA. In 2005, SRE was again named as one of the Top 10 Real Estate Enterprises of the Real Estate of Shanghai with an experience of 18 Years by SRETA.

CCTV-IMG Sports Management Company

CCTV-IMG Sports Management Company is a joint venture established by CCTV and International Management Group (IMG), aiming to bring Chinese traditional sports events and culture to the international market. CCTV-IMG specializes in international sports management and marketing, and is developing into an influential international elite sports events marketing and management company. As such, CCTV-IMG will help to internationalize the China sports industry.

China New Town Development

China New Town is a large scale private new town developer in China with sound track history. The Company was listed on The Singapore Exchange in 2007, and subsequently on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong in 2010, stock code: 1278. The Company focuses on planning and developing large-scale new town projects in the suburbs of some of the PRC's largest cities, with each current project covering site area of at least 36 sq. km. Currently, the Company is engaged in three new town projects: Shanghai North European Luodian New Town Project, Wuxi Hongshan New Town Project and Shenyang Lixiang New Town Project.

Lake Malaren

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