BEIJING, October 10, 2013 (AFP) - The American outshone New Zealander Gareth Paddison, Lucas Lee of Brazil and South Korea's Ted Oh, who were three under at the $1 million OneAsia event.
Major winners Charl Schwartzel and Darren Clarke remained within touching distance of the leaders. South African Schwartzel finished the day at one under, while Clarke, of Northern Ireland, was on par.
Clarke started the day with two birdies, but was pegged back as he battled the wind at the Nanshan International Golf Club's Montgomerie course in the eastern province of Shandong.
"It was tricky out there today. The wind was pumping on a few holes," the 2011 US Masters winner said in a report released by the organisers.
"Some of the par fours played exceptionally long due to the wind and there's not much run out there, so I'm pretty pleased with level par."
Defending champion and home favourite Liang Wenchong was on two over, while 2011 winner Kim Bi-o of Korea was on three over.
The pair were OneAsia Order of Merit champions in 2010 and 2012 respectively, and Liang won last year's tournament in gripping style, playing the 18th with South Korea's Y.E. Yang five times before coming out on top.
Australia's Andre Stolz, a OneAsia Order of Merit champion in 2011, was trailing at plus seven, after double-bogeying on holes one and 18.
Only 14 players were below par after the first day. Play was suspended with 14 players still left to finish the course.
First round (Par 72)
68 - Eric Mina (USA)
69 - Lucas Lee (BRA), Gareth Paddison (NZL), Ted Oh (KOR)
70 - Park Bae-Jong (KOR), Li Haotong (CHN), Scott Laycock (AUS)
71 - Zhang Xinjun (CHN), Terry Pilkadaris (AUS), Garrett Sapp (USA), Charl Schwartzel (RSA), Mark Brown (NZL), Ryan Haller (AUS), Yu Gyoung-Yoon (KOR)