Richie Ramsay produced a brilliant six under par 65 in blustery conditions at Club de Golf Valderrama to claim the first-round clubhouse lead in the Andalucía Masters.
The Scotsman carded three unanswered birdies before the turn, then birdied the tenth, eagled the par five 11th and chipped in for another gain at the 15th.
The former South African Open champion found trouble down the right on the 17th which led to a first dropped shot of the day, but it was still an exceptional effort from the 28 year old.
“Valderrama is the kind of course that suits me,” he said. “It’s a shot maker’s course, you need to manoeuvre the ball right to left or left to right - sometimes you need the low shot or the high one - and I feel comfortable doing that.
“This course is a good challenge for me. You need to play it shot by shot, and that’s all I did.
“My chipping was really good today, but I’ve been working on that, and it’s nice to see the hard work pay off.
“I started smiling when the wind started to get up on 11 because it helped me knock it on the green in two and I made eagle there and I knew that if I could finish well, particularly the last three holes which are tough, with the wind picking up, my score would be good. I was a bit unlucky on 17, but it’s a tough hole.
“It’s always nice to have a 65 around a classic course like Valderrama because it’s had Ryder Cup and so many great champions - to shoot 65 on a golf course you love is always fantastic.”
England’s Ross Fisher was two behind Ramsay after recovering well from a triple bogey at the eighth.
The Ryder Cup star opened with consecutive gains and moved to three under with a birdie at the sixth.
He was soon back to level par but carded four birdies on the way in to take solo second.
France’s Grégory Havret and Scot Stephen Gallacher shared third in the clubhouse after both recorded three under par 68s.
On the course Shane Lowry was three under through 11, with last week’s runaway winner Sergio Garcia a shot further back after ten holes.
