PAUL McGinley's decision to set up Celtic Manor like Gleneagles ahead of next week's Ryder Cup looked to be paying dividends today, but not quite how the European captain might have expected.

With four of his team - Stephen Gallacher, Lee Westwood, Thomas Bjorn and Jamie Donaldson - contesting the ISPS Handa Wales Open, McGinley asked for the 2010 Ryder Cup venue to closely resemble the 2014 venue.

And although Donaldson was one under par after five holes of his opening round, it was England's Tommy Fleetwood who was setting the early pace, perhaps inspired by his victory in the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles 12 months ago.

Starting from the 11th, Fleetwood birdied the 13th, 15th and 17th to move top of the leaderboard on three under par, one ahead of Portugal's Ricardo Santos, France's Gregory Havret and English duo Robert Rock and Sam Walker.

Donaldson, looking to become the first Welsh winner of the event ahead of his Ryder Cup debut, had birdied the 11th and 13th but bogeyed the 14th, while Westwood had birdied the 13th but also dropped a shot on the 14th.

In a possible indication of Ryder Cup pairings, Westwood and Donaldson were in the same group along with KLM Open winner Paul Casey, while Bjorn and Gallacher were also in the same group among the later starters.

Fleetwood picked up another birdie on the 18th to improve to four under, but was still only one ahead as Santos birdied the eighth and Havret the 15th.

Northern Ireland's Michael Hoey had also got to three under with birdies on the 15th and 16th, but Westwood had slipped to two over par after bogeys on the 17th and 18th.

And it could have been worse for the former world number one, who holed from 12 feet for a six on the 18th after his third shot from a greenside bunker rolled off the green and trickled down a steep slope into the water.

Fleetwood dropped his first shot of the day on the par-five second but bounced straight back with a superb tee shot on the next to set up a birdie from five feet.

The 23-year-old was joined on four under by playing partner Nicolas Colsaerts, who had been one over par after seven holes but then made an eagle on the 18th and birdies on the first, second and fifth.

Santos and Havret had also picked up shots to make it a four-way tie for the lead, with Ireland's Shane Lowry among those a shot behind.