Defending champion James Morrison took inspiration from Spain's greatest ever golfer as he fired an opening 67 in round one of the Real Club Valderrama Open de España, Hosted by the Sergio Garcia Foundation.
The Englishman dropped a single shot on the second and really came to life after the turn with birdies on the tenth and 14th before he played a brilliant bunker shot for a fifth birdie of the day on the penultimate hole.
An errant tee shot on the 18th threatened to undo some of that good work but the 31 year old played an excellent recovery shot and finished with a par, citing the unparalleled scrambling of the great Seve Ballesteros as he tackled one of The European Tour's toughest courses.
"I played here in 2010 and 2011 and I wasn't mentally prepared for this course," he said. "I was two years on Tour and I was an angry man. I'm now mentally better to play this course and embrace it and play it for what it is.
"You have to stick to your game-plan and not waver from that or the golf course will eat you alive. I stuck to that today and when I got in trouble I got up and down.
"I had a really good up and down on 16 and 17 and then on 18 I hit a bad shot left.
When in Spain you have got to be Seve-esque when you are in the trees, so I took on the shot and made a good four in the end - James Morrison
Home favourite Alejandro Cañizares also got round in 67 with just a single blemish on his card, with a birdie-birdie finish catapulting him to within one shot of first round leader Alexander Levy.
"It was a great day," he said. "Not much wind and the course is in perfect shape and I played some very good golf. I didn't make many mistakes and rolled some putts in, so I'm happy.
"You've got to place the ball off the tee and make some birdie putts which aren't easy. The greens are firm, so I'm happy to finish with two birdies in the last two and I'm very proud of my round.
"I wish we could play each week on a course in this kind of shape. It is one of the best in Europe and I'm very happy we can have the Spanish Open here."
Pablo Larrazábal was another Spaniard who enjoyed a good opening day of his home event, registering five birdies and two bogeys in a three under par 68.
Despite the wind providing favourable conditions for the field, only 15 players managed to go under par on Thursday, and Larrazábal was delighted to be one of them on what he called "probably the toughest golf course in the whole world".
"It is a great start, to be three under par," he said. "We are playing in the easiest conditions and there are only 15 players under par.
"I like tough courses. I don't like starting the day thinking you have to shoot six under par to be at the top. I like knowing level par is a good score and I know if I have three rounds of level par, I will win this tournament."
