Haotong Li takes the lead at the WGC-HSBC Champions

The final tournament of the PGA Tour's Asian swing is up and running, with Haotong Li putting on a show in front of his home crowd to take the lead, shooting an 8-under-par score of 64 to take a one shot lead over Victor Perez.

Starting on the 10th hole, Li started his day with back-to-back birdies and found three more before the turn. His only fault of the day came at the par 4 first hole where he made a bogey, but he bounced straight back with an eagle and a birdie.

Li's final birdie of the day came at the 8th (his 17th) to then finish his round with a par and receive an incredible reception from his home crowd at Sheshan International.

"Obviously, it would be great joy for Chinese golfers and Chinese golf fans to have a Chinese player winning a WGC-HSBC Champions here in China," Li said. "But for the next three days, anything could happen."

Frenchman Perez currently sits in solo 2nd, while Sungjae Im continued his fine form to take a share of third at six-under, alongside Adam Scott, Matthew Fitzpatrick and Xander Schauffele.

Rory McIlroy couldn't quite get the ball rolling during his front nine, making three birdies and three bogeys to be level at the turn, but found his form on the back nine to make four birdies in a row and one more before the finish to end the round five-under-par in T7.

"The last few tournaments I've played, I've had a bad opening round and then been trying to play catch up," McIlroy said. "At least now, I'm right in the thick of things from the start, which is a better place to be."