He may have been sharing the lead after the opening round of the World Cup of Golf at Royal Melbourne but the main talking point for Thomas Bjorn centred around the recent rumblings on the European Tour.

Having posted a five-under 66 to finish alongside American Kevin Streelman in the individual contest, Bjorn made his feelings known on the prickly issue of the tour's 'Final Series'. Both Ernie Els and Charl Schwartzel, who were absent from the season-ending DP Tour World Championship, had been highly critical of the stipulation that players had to play in two of the opening three events in the lucrative four-stop series.

George O'Grady, the European Tour's chief executive, conceded that changes would be made but Bjorn, the chairman of the Tournament Committee, still maintains the circuit's top players, who straddle both the European and US scene, need to lead by example and help to safeguard events for those coming through.

"I have spoken personally to Ernie and Charl and both of them are fine," he said. "Stories get written in the newspapers that should have maybe been kept private but you take that with a grain of salt as when it all settles down, you sit down and talk.

"I have been very honest with all of our leading players competing in the States. I made it clear to them that for 99% of their career they think about themselves and nobody else. But there's one percent that I am trying to drag out of them, and that's to think about someone else.

"In talking to them I use Seve [Ballesteros] and Arnold Palmer as an example as they just donated that little bit extra that left something for somebody else. It's difficult when you sit with Justin Rose and Ian Poulter and try to explain this to them. They are the players that younger golfers look to and they must set the example and offer that one percent for those following. They are starting to understand where I am coming from but as for some of the others, it is a little bit more difficult."

Glasgow's Martin Laird used his driver just four times as he plotted his way to a tidy four-under 67 which left him a shot off the lead on a day when Masters champion Adam Scott, returning to the same Royal Melbourne course where he won the Australian Masters last Sunday, racked up a 9 en route to a 75. Laird's Scottish team-mate, Stephen Gallacher, had to settle for a 74.

Elsewhere, Peter Whiteford, David Drysdale, Chris Doak and Doug McGuigan all opened the new European Tour season with one-under 71s in the first round of the South African Open in Guateng. While Englishman Matthew Nixon, the winner of the British Boys' title at Royal Aberdeen in 2006, leads the way on an eight-under 64, the Scottish quartet had to settle for a more modest start to the 2014 Race to Dubai.

Alastair Forsyth, who regained his tour card at last weekend's qualifying and has not had a top-five on the main circuit since the Africa Open at the start of 2012, began his campaign with a 72 with Scott Jamieson a shot further back on 73.

Craig Lee, fresh from a top-60 finish on the 2013 money list, opened with a 74 and finished alongside European Tour rookie Jamie McLeary.