Spain’s Pablo Larrazábal came flying out of the blocks at the Lyoness Open powered by Greenfinity with four birdies and an eagle in his first nine holes, before play was suspended due to torrential rain.
The Open de España runner-up started with a gain at the long tenth, took three at the par five 13th then picked up further shots at the 14th, 16th and 18th to turn in a six under par 30 at Diamond Country Club.
That gave the 29 year old an early four shot lead over Swedes Joakim Haeggman and Peter Hedblom, England’s Andrew Marshall, and French Pair Grégory Bourdy and Romain Wattel.
Ballantine’s Championship winner Bernd Wiesberger and European Amateur Champion Manuel Trappel – both guaranteed plenty of support from the crowd in Atzenbrugg, Austria - were among the later starters.
Former BMW International Open winner Larrázabal was playing with former winners Jose Manuel Lara and Markus Brier, but they were five over and three over respectively.
