Rory McIlroy leads the way at the WGC-HSBC Champions after a first-round 65, a 7-under total that gives him a 2-shot cushion over Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano and Jamie Donaldson at Sheshan International Golf Club in Shanghai.

It’s a hopeful start for the former No. 1-ranked golfer in the world, who struggled mightily with his swing on 2013. But the 24-year-old struck the ball much better in an exhibition match against Tiger Woods on Monday, and gave himself a “seven-out-of-ten rating” for his ball striking in Round 1.

” It was good,” McIlroy said after the round. “It felt good to be out there and be in control of my golf ball. Gave myself a lot of looks for birdies.”

According to McIlroy, his game started coming around two weeks ago at the Korea Open, where he finished 1-shot back of South Korea’s Sung-hoon Kang. He said he drove the ball great but struggled with his short game. Last week at the BMW Masters in Shanghai, McIlroy said he saw even more progress, but didn’t hole enough putts to win.

McIlroy is in the process of adjusting to new equipment, but the changes are nothing compared to the 14-club-and-ball switch he made to start the 2013 season. In the bag in Shanghai is a Nike Covert 2.0 driver that he says he feels very comfortable with, a fresh lob wedge and Nike’s 2014 RZN prototype ball that has a softer cover than the 2013 Nike 20XI-X he played in 2013.

Click here to see all the clubs in Mcilroy’s bag.

This year’s WGC-HSBC Championship features an extremely strong field, with just about all of the world’s best players in attendance except No. 1-ranked Tiger Woods and No. 2-ranked Adam Scott. Jordan Spieth, the PGA Tour’s Rookie of the Year in 2013, is three shots back of McIlroy at 4-under. The 20-year-old, who is playing in his first WGC event, started the first round 2-over through eight holes, but recovered with six birdies and no bogeys over his final 11 holes.

Also close to the lead are Bubba Watson and Justin rose, at 4-under, along with 22-year-old Tommy Fleetwood, an Englishman with a celebrated amateur career who won the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles in August.

Defending champion Ian Poulter and Phil Mickelson shot matching rounds of 1-under, while last week’s CIMB Classic winner Ryan Moore opened with around of 2-under.