Perth International joint-leader Alejandro Canizares has expressed his relief at finally finding form after a &aposterrible&apos performance at the Portugal Masters. Canizares finished four over at the Portugal Masters last week to share 68th position and having had a &aposvery slow&apos year since March, the 29-year-old Spaniard was thrilled with his seven under 65 in the opening round of the Perth International. In a bogey-free round on Thursday, Canizares birdied consecutive holes on three occasions before grabbing a seventh birdie on the 17th hole to move to the top of the leaderboard alongside New Zealand&aposs Michael Hendry. “I came here from Portugal from last week, didn&apost play very good last week,” Canizares said after his opening round at Lake Karrinyup Country Club. “I hit the ball terrible but I came here and I felt great. “Maybe…the 24 hours travelling helped. “I feel good with my swing and hopefully the week keeps going like this.” Canizares finished tied for fifth at the Mayakoba Golf Classic in February, the only PGA Tour event in Mexico, as he started the year in decent form but has generally struggled in 2012, however, it all came together for the Spaniard during his first round in Perth. “I think I only missed two greens in the whole round and one of them I chipped in on the 8th hole, par 3, which was a bonus,” Canizares said. “(I) putted well. “Missed a couple short ones on 14 and 15 for birdie but I made a long one on 17, so I made up for that and made a good one for par on 18.” Hendry, the Order of Merit leader in the PGA Tour of Australasia Tour, bogeyed the second hole to cancel out his birdie start but did not drop another shot on his way to a share of the lead. The 2012 New Zealand PGA champion claimed tee shots will be crucial at the Perth International. “I think around here, if you can hit your drives in the right place, you can give yourself lots of opportunities to hit it close with wedges,” Hendry said. “And I hit my driver pretty well and wedged it well and putted it well. “So all in all, (it was) just a really solid round of golf.” Canizares warned it may not be so easy to shoot low scores if the wind picks up at Lake Karrinyup after experiencing the Fremantle Doctor during Wednesday&aposs Pro-Am. “It&aposs a tree lined golf course, so it&aposs very difficult to judge the wind where it comes from because you feel it swirling around, you&aposre not sure where it comes from,” Canizares said. “So when it&aposs gusting like yesterday, it&aposs difficult to judge.”