Ashley Chesters remained one shot clear of nearest challenger Grégory Bourdy when the first round of the weather-affected Andalucía Valderrama Masters hosted by the Sergio Garcia Foundation reached its conclusion on Friday afternoon.
Englishman Chesters produced an opening 66 on a stormy first day at Real Club Valderrama to jump to the top of the leaderboard, with Bourdy a single shot behind him on four under par after his flawless 67.
With over four hours of playing time lost due to bad weather on Thursday, 60 players had to return to complete their opening rounds on day two but no-one could match Chesters' first-round score.
More inclement weather caused another suspension on Friday morning, with no play possible until 11.30am local time - two-and-a-half hours after the scheduled restart time of 9.00am.
When play did get back under way, Swede Pontus Widegren followed up Thursday evening's birdies at the 11th and 15th with further gains at the 16th, 17th and first to join Chesters on five under, but three bogeys in his last eight holes saw him finish his round on two under.
Home hope Alvaro Quiros joined defending champion and tournament host Sergio Garcia, Australian Jason Scrivener and Oliver Farr on three under after completing his first round on Friday.
Welshman Farr had played just two holes of his opening round when play was suspended due to darkness on Thursday and he picked up where he left off on Friday morning, adding birdies at the 12th and 17th to the shot he picked up at the tenth - his first.
The Challenge Tour graduate pulled off a sensational par save from around ten feet at the seventh to remain at three under and he closed his round with back-to-back pars to sign for a sparkling 68.
Scot Marc Warren, who currently sits 144th in the Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex, is among the large group on two under after putting the finishing touches to his 69 on Friday.
Chesters made a quick start to his first round on Thursday, picking up three shots on the front nine to reach the turn in 32.
He dropped his only shot of the day at the tenth but fired a bounceback birdie at the 11th to return to three under before the threat of lightning forced a suspension at 2.50pm.
When play resumed at 5.00pm, Chesters slid in his close-range birdie effort at the 17th to join Bourdy at the summit before repeating the trick at the last to sign for an opening 66 and take the outright lead.
Speaking on Thursday, Chesters said: "This is not a long-hitters' course and I'm not one of those, so it does suit my game because you just put it into position off the tee and the greens are tight – the greens are great as well."
The second round got under way on Friday afternoon as some of the later starters were finishing off their opening rounds. The likes of Chesters and Bourdy will not start their second rounds until Saturday.
