Scotland's Jack Doherty claimed the clubhouse lead on a weather-affected first day of the inaugural NH Collection Open at La Reserva de Sotogrande Club de Golf.
After play had been delayed by two hours and 40 minutes because of heavy rain, Doherty overcame strong winds to card a three under par 69 to lead by one from Welshman Bradley Dredge.
Doherty came through The European Tour qualifying school in November at the 12th attempt, but has only made one cut so far this season, finishing joint 63rd in the Tshwane Open.
The 31 year old carded six birdies and three bogeys to top the leaderboard, with two-time European Tour winner Dredge shooting three birdies and just one bogey.
"It was a tough day," Doherty said. "We had a 20 yard wind on the front nine and almost 30 yards on the back nine, which is a lot. The ball is going a long way downwind and it's hardly going anywhere into the wind, but I practice on the west coast of Scotland which is normally quite windy, so I know how to play it and I just stuck to my game plan.
"The course is lovely, it's my first time here and I enjoyed it. I like the way it sets up and it's in good condition. Considering we had lots of rain yesterday and last night, the course has held up nicely and the greens are fast, especially downwind.
"This is my first year on the main Tour and my main target is to keep my card for next year as I am limited in my starts. Every week is big, but a big week here would be huge."
Spain's Alejandro Cañizares, who is looking for back-to-back wins following his victory in Morocco last month, had to settle for an opening 72 after a round containing three birdies, one bogey and a double bogey.
“I missed a five footer for birdie on the last, so a disappointing finish. The rest of my game worked fine.”
The rain delay meant half the 144-strong field were unable to complete their first rounds on Thursday, with play scheduled to resume at 9am local time on Friday.
Doherty's lead remained intact, although Welshman Rhys Davies had reached two under par after 12 holes and South African Tjaart van der Walt and Swede Joakim Lagergren were on the same mark early in their rounds.
Former Ryder Cup player David Howell and fellow Englishman David Horsey were in a five-strong group safely in the clubhouse on one under par, along with Spain’s Adrian Otaegui, Italy’s Lorenzo Gagli and Finn Mikko Korhonen.
“All in all, it was a very positive day,” said 21 year old Otaegui. “The course was playing really difficult and anything under par is very good.
“In the morning the course was extremely wet. When the rain stopped the wind started to blow really hard.
“In these conditions it’s best not to get obsessed with the wind because it only makes things worse. I will try to do my best hole after hole and forget about the wind.”
