Ernie Els calls penalty on himself in BMW PGA Championship

Els appeared to have chipped in for an eagle on the par-five 12th at Wentworth, but instantly realised he had not replaced his ball in the right place after checking to see if it was plugged.

The four-time major winner was therefore assessed a two-shot penalty and eventually signed for a one-under-par 71 to lie four shots behind clubhouse leaders Scott Jamieson, Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Francesco Molinari.

"I pulled my second shot a bit left and hit it into the bank of the bunker," Els, 47, explained. "I thought it was plugged, so I asked my guys (playing partners) if I could check it and they said, 'Yeah'.

"I put it back and I hit my chip shot and I just felt uncomfortable by the way the ball came out. The ball came out way too good so I felt I didn't quite probably put it exactly where I should have.

"Under the rules you try and put it back the way you think it should be, but I still felt uncomfortable with it, so we took a two-shot penalty. I know deep down the ball wasn't quite where it should be and I wouldn't be able to live with myself."

Els at least had reason to celebrate the verdict on his latest redesign of the West Course, which has met with universal approval from his fellow competitors.

"The greens are absolutely as pure as you can find," said Els, who was visibly upset by criticism of his original redesign in 2010. "Next week we'll be playing the Memorial (at Muirfield Village) and I think these greens are running just as good or better than the Memorial, or Augusta for that matter.

"We listened to some of the players comments through the years since we started first changing and I think I feel we've got it right this time."

The £5million renovation programme started just eight days after Chris Wood's victory last year, with all 18 greens stripped of their old turf and reseeded with a new type of grass.

The greens on the eighth, 11th, 14th and 16th were completely rebuilt and another five - the third, fourth, fifth, 12th and 15th - were partially rebuilt, while a sub-air system as used at Augusta National was installed under all 18 greens.

All of the bunkers were redesigned and a total of 29 removed, with a combination of those changes - and no doubt the £5.4m prize fund for the first Rolex Series event - helping to ensure Open champion Henrik Stenson was making just his second appearance in seven years in one of the European Tour's flagship events.

Jamieson, who was in the first group out at 7am, carded five birdies in a flawless opening 67 as he looks to avoid another battle to retain his European Tour card.

"The last two years have been a bit of a struggle for me but it's been a solid start to this season," said Jamieson, who finished 106th and 107th on the Race to Dubai in 2015 and 2016 respectively. "I just carried on where I left off last year, because from September on it was really good.

"I kept my eye in over the winter because I didn't want to lose any momentum."

Danny Willett, Justin Rose and defending champion Wood all finished on level par, with Wood throwing his ball into the water on the 18th after a bogey six.

Players and caddies wore black ribbons as a mark of respect to the victims of the terrorist attack in Manchester on Monday, with a minute's silence held at 11am.