SHANGHAI - The conditions were so soft Thursday in the HSBC Champions that Branden Grace was not surprised by his 9-under 63. And he knew there would be plenty of other players stacked up right behind him.
Grace did his part at Sheshan International by making birdies on half of his holes, including his last one at the par-4 ninth. That gave him a one-shot lead over Thorbjorn Olesen, Steven Bowditch and Kevin Kisner, the American playing in China for the first time.
''Barely had a breath of wind out there and the golf course is playing probably as easy as it could be playing,'' Grace said.