Larry Godfrey kick-started Team GB's Olympic push with a personal best in the archery ranking round at Lord's.
Godfrey, the world number 10, shot the fourth best score of the 72-arrow event to lay down a strong marker ahead of the individual competition.
He scored 680, finishing behind only South Korea's dominant three-man team.
Im Dong-hyun - whose 699 was the first world record of the Games - took top seeding, with Kim Bubmin's 698 leaving him second and Oh Jin-hyek's 690 good enough for third.
Bristol-based Godfrey was more than happy with his own score though, finishing four points in front of world number one Brady Ellison, who was left in 10th.
Cumbrian Alan Wills was ranked 42nd with 660 and Leicestershire's Simon Terry was 50th out of 64 competitors with 654.
That leaves them ranked eighth out of 12 teams, with the men's medal matches taking place on Saturday.
Great Britain's path is a tough one, with Ukraine first up followed by a match against the rampant South Koreans should they win.
Godfrey was nevertheless delighted with his day's work.
"I'm very happy with a personal best," he said. "The British record was on, it was in sight, and I let it go towards the end but I am happy."
"I thought I would be a bit lower than fourth.
"But this is what I've been training for - to peak and shoot as well as I can at an Olympic qualifier.
"I have a lot of confidence in myself and the weather held up. It was a great day for shooting.
"Anyone has a chance of a medal tomorrow. There's not many teams here and the ones who are can all win a medal because we're the best in the world.
"We just have to bring what we've got and see what happens. It's about going back and resting now."
Godfrey, who has been paired with the world number 127 Emdadul Haque Milon in the first elimination round, also hopes home advantage - and the history of Lord's - can play a part.
"It's nice that we're here in London and nice to have all the GB public around us. It's a good place to be at the moment," he said.
"And in any stadium or historic venue like this one you can feel the old souls coming into you. You feel like they're there with you.
"I know WG Grace will be with me when I walk down those stairs tomorrow."