The in-form Judd Trump blew away first-round opponent David Lilley at the UK Championship in York but claimed he was far from his best.
Trump, who went into the event on the back of victory in the Northern Ireland Open where he beat Ronnie O'Sullivan in the final, fired two centuries in a 6-0 win at the Barbican Centre.
The 2011 champion book-ended his win with breaks of 128 in the first frame and 113 in the sixth but said: "I didn't think I played very well, I made a couple of important clearances but otherwise I felt rusty out there. I got a bit of luck and the scoreline was flattering."
Two more former winners, Neil Robertson and Ding Junhui, also made short work of their opening games.
Australian Robertson, winner of the event in 2013 and 2015, beat Welshman Kishan Hirani 6-2.
The world number 10 produced five 50-plus breaks and a best of 110 in the fifth frame.
Chinese star Ding, like Robertson a two-time UK champion, coasted to a 6-1 victory over Poland's Adam Stefanow.
All four of the top-16 players in action progressed safely as Kyren Wilson, yet to reach the last 16 at this event, won 6-0 against Andy Lee with breaks of 94 and 101.
Jack Lisowski was the first man to progress to the second round and did so in style as his 6-1 defeat of China's Zhang Jiankang included two century breaks.
Lisowski compiled scores of at least 50 in six of the seven frames, setting the trend with an 82 in the opener and making breaks of 120 and 115 in the second and penultimate frames respectively.
Former world champion Ken Doherty was also in fine form in his 6-2 victory over Chinese teenager Yuan Sijun.
A break of 130 drew the Irishman level at 2-2 and he rattled off the next four frames with further scores of 50 and 82 in frames six and seven.
Dominic Dale will face Trump in round two after beating Gerard Greene 6-4, while Jak Jones won the last three frames to defeat Ricky Walden 6-5.
There were also first-round wins for Zhou Yuelong, Luo Honghao, Tian Pengfei, Martin O'Donnell, Matthew Selt and Michael Holt.
