He may be set to undergo surgery on his left hand next Tuesday, but Anders Hansen was the coolest man at the Alstom Open de France as he constructed a fine opening score of five under par 66 at the testing Golf National to take the first round lead.

The Dane put on a superb ball-striking display to lead a jam-packed leaderboard, his closest challenger being Frenchman Romain Wattel just one shot back with a further nine players tied for third place on three under.

Among that number are in-form Thomas Björn and Martin Kaymer, the winner here in 2009 and another Frenchman Victor Dubuisson, while Graeme McDowell and Miguel Angel Jiménez are among the 13 men tied together on two under.

American Matt Kuchar marked his first trip to France with a one under 70, while Luke Donald and Ian Poulter recovered well from poor starts to their opening rounds to respectively salvage a level par 71 and a two over 73.

But the day belonged to Hansen, who after his round revealed that he will undergo surgery on his left hand next Tuesday.

“I played actually really solid from tee to green and putted quite well so it just sort of all came together,” said Hansen. “At some stage it seemed a bit easy, but this course gets your attention and next thing you know, you’re making bogeys.

“This course seems to treat me very well and I’m playing well, so I do like this place and I do like this golf course. A lot of the new designers could learn a lot from this.  I was speaking to Alex (Noren) about it going down the last hole; these new courses, they build them, 500 yard par fours and wide open.  Why not put us out on a course like this, which tests ever element of the game.

“My hand feel fine but I’m having my operation on Tuesday, so I’m looking forward to get that out of the way and hopefully be ready for the end of the season.  It’s not far away, so I’m looking forward to get that done. It’s a problem I have had for years and years and years that I have managed with cortisone injections before.

“There’s basically no meniscus in this part of the hand so it goes straight, bone on bone, so no cartilage.  They are going in three different places and they are going to remove a cyst I have here and clean this up and there’s a 50/50 chance it’s going to be okay.  The other thing is to take the whole bone out and cut it a bit, but that’s a big operation and I would be out for six months.  So we are hoping to do that and it’s going to be good enough.”

Complete Round One Scores:

66 A Hansen (Den);

67 R Wattel  (Fra);

68 M Kaymer (Ger); F Aguilar (Chi); E Goya (Arg); F Zanotti (Par); V Dubuisson  (Fra); T Björn (Den); R Sterne  (RSA); S Gallacher (Sco); M Nixon (Eng);

69 G Bourdy (Fra); S Jamieson  (Sco); A Levy (Fra); G McDowell  (Nir); M Jiménez (Esp); M Warren (Sco); M Hoey  (Nir); D Howell (Eng); S Kjeldsen (Den); R Ramsay  (Sco); R Green (Aus); J Morrison  (Eng);

70 S Dyson  (Eng); B Wiesberger  (Aut); T Pieters  (Bel); M Kuchar  (USA); A Dunbar (Nir); J Van Zyl (RSA); J Donaldson (Wal); D McGrane (Irl); R Cabrera-Bello (Esp); C Lloyd (Eng); R Fisher (Eng); G Mulroy (RSA); A Noren  (Swe); D Drysdale (Sco); R Jacquelin (Fra); M Tullo (Chi); M Campbell (Nzl); G Storm  (Eng);

71 P Widegren  (Swe); C Doak (Sco); M Foster (Eng); L Slattery (Eng); S Khan (Eng); R Rock (Eng); L Donald  (Eng); S Benson (Eng); J Luiten (Ned); G Maybin (Nir); T Jaidee (Tha); M Southgate  (Eng); H Otto (RSA); F Molinari (Ita); M Madsen  (Den); A Tadini (Ita); M Baldwin (Eng); J Lara (Esp); T Aiken (RSA); A Cañizares  (Esp); M Lundberg (Swe); A Dodt (Aus);

72 G Lockerbie  (Eng); E Molinari  (Ita); E De La Riva  (Esp); R Derksen (Ned); S Wakefield (Eng); H Mu (Chn); T Lewis (Eng); E Grillo (Arg); C Brazillier  (Fra); J Walters (RSA); K Broberg (Swe); G Shaw (Nir); B Stone (RSA);

73 L Gagli  (Ita); M Manassero (Ita); I Poulter (Eng); O Fisher  (Eng); R Gonzalez (Arg); F Calmels  (Fra); T Fleetwood  (Eng); S Henry  (Sco); E Kofstad (Nor); P Price (Wal); D Lynn (Eng); J Edfors (Swe); G Havret  (Fra);

74 S Webster (Eng); J Campillo (Esp); M Ford (Eng); M Wiegele  (Aut); B Åkesson (Swe); M Carlsson  (Swe); G Fdez-Castaño  (Esp); F Fritsch  (Ger); R Bland (Eng); P McGinley (Irl); M Kieffer (Ger); P Lawrie (Irl); C Paisley  (Eng); J Remesy (Fra); A Quiros  (Esp); J Parry (Eng);

75 E Pepperell (Eng); G Cambis  (Fra); Z Scotland  (Eng); J Kruger (RSA); R Finch  (Eng); I Garrido (Esp); S Hansen (Den); J Quesne  (Fra); S Thornton (Irl); N Fasth (Swe); P Uihlein  (USA); C Lee (Sco); R Coles (Eng); R Santos  (Por);

76 A Hartø  (Den); S Chowrasia (Ind); M Delpodio  (Ita); C Wood  (Eng); M Ilonen  (Fin); M Lafeber (Ned); A Snobeck  (Fra); K Aphibarnrat (Tha); T Levet (Fra); J Singh (Ind); J Lucquin (Fra);

77 M Fraser (Aus); D Horsey (Eng); P Waring  (Eng); N Tacher (Fra); J Olazábal (Esp); J Brun (am) (Fra);

78 P Whiteford (Sco); B Rumford (Aus); D Fichardt (RSA); J Gonnet  (Fra); T Olesen (Den); M Siem  (Ger); A Kaleka  (Fra); C Cévaër (Fra);

79 K Horne (RSA); G Stal  (Fra); J Sjöholm (Swe); F Andersson Hed (Swe);

80 A Sullivan (Eng); J Hansen  (Den); L Jensen (Den); P Larrazábal (Esp);

81 J Verselin (Fra); G Boyd  (Eng);

82 A Schwartz (Fra);

84 G Hazelby (Eng);