Day one digest: Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters hosted by the Sergio Garcia Foundation

A flying Frenchman, a local hero and one of the biggest birds you will see were the order of the day on Thursday at the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters hosted by the Sergio Garcia Foundation.

Here is everything you need to know from day one at Real Club Valderrama.

Garcia delights the locals

With three wins and ten other top tens from 14 appearances, Sergio Garcia is the king of Valderrama. He took advantage of the easier morning conditions to card five birdies in a 65 that left him in a place he is accustomed to, the upper echelons of the leaderboard. After wins in the past two years and the last three stagings of this event, he is looking to become the first player since the European Tour was formed in 1972 to win the same event four consecutive times. "I love this place, there is no doubt about that," he said. "It kind of has something with me that helps me." It certainly does.

Perez rediscovers his va va voom

Victor Perez finished third on last season's European Challenge Tour Rankings and it's safe to say he transitioned into life on the European Tour beautifully. The Frenchman started the 2019 Race to Dubai with a tie for third at the Honma Hong Kong Open presented by Amundi and made his next six cuts in some style. He missed four of his next five, however, before Thursday's bogey free 65 handed him a one shot lead at one of Europe's very toughest courses. "I'm very pleased, first round 65 with six birdies," he said. "Very pleased to keep the card clean, it's one of the toughest places to do it."

Big bird for Porteous

Holes-in-one may be the headline grabbers in the world of golf but an albatross is both more valuable and more rare. At the par five 17th on Thursday, Haydn Porteous found the cup with his second shot - a six iron from 215 yards - for just the third albatross of the season. "I hit it and I knew it would be good," he said. "I didn't think it would be that good. To be honest with the celebration, I was not so sure what to do with myself. I was watching a couple of videos on Instagram thinking it would be really nice to walk off with a two on 17 and here I am today, walking in with a two."

Spanish hands

People have been talking about Spanish hands since Seve and it cannot be denied that players born in our host nation this week tend to have remarkable touch around the greens. That was proven again on day one as first Jon Rahm chipped in for an eagle and then Jorge Campillo signed off with a remarkable birdie. Don't call it a cliché.