England's David Howell carded a three-under-par 69 Thursday to grab a share of the lead after round one of the Daily Telegraph Dunlop Masters. Howell was joined atop the leaderboard by fellow countrymen Brian Davis, David Lynn and Ben Mason. Defending champion Barry Lane posted a two-under-par 70. He was joined in a tie for fifth place by Stephen Dodd, Scott Drummond, Richard Finch, Pierre Fulke, Soren Hansen, Andrew McLardy and Angel Cabrera, who shared second place behind Lane last year. Howell, a member of the victorious 2004 European Ryder Cup squad, got off to a quick start as he birdied the first. He came right back with a chip-in birdie on No. 2 on the Arden Course at the Marriott Forest of Arden Hotel & Country Club. The 29-year-old Howell dropped in his third birdie putt on the par-four fourth. The 1999 Dubai Desert Classic winner again made it two in a row as he birdied the fifth to move to four-under. He reeled off 12 consecutive pars before stumbling to a bogey at the last when he was unable to get up and down to save par. "That is a pretty good score today," said Howell. "I played the tough holes really well, gave myself some birdie chances, but let myself down a little on the par-fives by not hitting the fairways and laying up all the time." Davis opened with a birdie on the fourth. However, he faltered to bogeys at six and nine to make the turn at plus-one. The Englishman jumped to minus-one thanks to an eagle on the par-five 12th. The 29-year-old, who won the 2004 ANZ Championship, slipped to another bogey on the par-four 14th but Davis closed with a flurry. He drained a birdie try on the 16th and came right back with a birdie on 17. Davis capped his round off in fine fashion as he chipped in for his third straight birdie on No. 18 to end at minus-three. "It was a real struggle," Davis said. "I putted really well, but just couldn't hit it. But I managed to get my way around. It was just one of those days to hang in there." Mason got going with a birdie on the par-four second. He moved to two-under with a birdie on the fourth. After stumbling to a bogey on No. 6, Mason holed consecutive birdie tries from the seventh to make the turn at minus-three. Around the turn, Mason climbed to four-under with a birdie on the par-five 12th. Mason slipped back to two-under with bogeys on the 14th and 17th. He managed to share the lead as he rolled in a six-foot birdie putt on the closing hole. Lynn was the lone leader to begin his round on the 10th tee. He struggled to a bogey on that hole, but got back to even-par with a birdie on the 12th. The Englishman tripped to another bogey on the 13th. The 31-year-old notched back-to-back birdies at 16 and 17 to get to minus-one. Lynn again birdied consecutive holes from the third to join the leaders at minus-three. He picked up another birdie on the seventh, but stumbled to a bogey at the next to come in at three-under. Simon Khan, Peter Baker, Robert-Jan Derksen, Simon Dyson, Stephen Gallacher, Marcel Siem and Patrik Sjoland were the final players in red figures at one- under-par 71. Colin Montgomerie, the 1998 champion here, looked like he would end as one of the leaders as he went to the ninth, his last, at minus-three. However, after a lengthy delay on the tee, the Scotsman struggled to a triple-bogey to finish at even-par 72.