Peter Uihlein takes the initiative as John Parry struggles in Perth

The American made an encouraging return from a wrist injury at last week’s Maybank Championship and made further progress in his rehabilitation by carding 65 at Lake Karrinyup Country Club.

Uihlein, whose sole European Tour victory came in 2013 at the Madeira Islands Open, leads Romain Wattel and Shiv Kapur by one stroke after reaching seven under with six birdies and an eagle.

The 26-year-old did start his round with a bogey but after swiftly picking up three shots he stunned fans gathered around the four-par ninth hole by sinking his approach for an eagle.

He overtook early starters Wattel and Kapur with three more birdies on the back nine. Strong winds meant he had to make a tough recovery shot on the 15th after hooking his tee shot towards trees.

“I was mentally sound,” the man from Massachusetts said. “I didn’t really let the bad shots turn me.

“I putted nicely which is always helpful but if I didn’t hit a good shot I didn’t really let it bother me, I just let it roll off my back and I was ready for the next one.”

“When it’s in the wind like this, you’re going to hit bad shots, everybody does so you’ve just got to accept it and move on from there.”

France’s Wattel, who mixed eight birdies with two front-nine bogeys, had already posted his lowest score of the season so far, while 34-year-old Kapur of India enjoyed a blemish-free round of 66. Northern Ireland’s Cormac Sharvin is part of a mostly-Australian chasing pack tied for fourth place after fluffing the opportunity to match the leaders when he double-bogeyed the 533-yard 15th hole.

Also shooting four-under 68s were Scott Arnold, Anthony Houston, Todd Sinnott, Nick Cullen, Rhein Gibson, Sweden’s Magnus A Carlsson and Brett Rumford, who had abdominal surgery last year. Defending champion Thorbjorn Olesen signed for 71, while Ryder Cup winner Victor Dubuisson was five over after closing out a disappointing round with a birdie on the last.

Harrogate’s John Parry also had a day to forget – the Yorkshireman had three double-bogeys and a triple-bogey in a desperately poor round of 86, 14 over par. Leeds’ Daniel Gavins shot a three-over-par 75.