Former Open Championship winner Paul Lawrie and defending champion Søren Kjeldsen share the lead after the first round of the Open de Andalucia de Golf in Malaga.
The pair shot five under par 65s at Parador de Málaga Golf to be a stroke ahead of seven players - England's Phillip Archer, Welshman Bradley Dredge, New Zealander Mark Brown, Dutchman Joost Luiten, Spaniard Ignacio Garrido, Argentina's Daniel Vancsik and France's former British amateur champion Julien Guerrier.
It might be for only a couple more weeks, but for the time being Lawrie remains Britain's last winner of a Major title.
Eleven years on from his amazing victory at Carnoustie - that was the day Jean Van de Velde closed with a triple bogey seven when three clear - the 41 year old finds himself 235th in the Official World Golf Rankings.
His last victory was in 2002, but Lawrie still believes he can hit the heights again and recently decided to link up again with former coach Adam Hunter.
That meant leaving Bob Torrance, coach to three-time Major champion Padraig Harrington, but Lawrie said: "I gave Bob a ring and he was great.
"I learnt a lot - you do from every coach - but I didn't think I was getting enough out of it for the time it took to see him."
He lives in Aberdeen and Torrance in Ayrshire and it meant a seven-hour round trip.
Hunter, a former European Tour winner himself, has recently been diagnosed with leukaemia and Lawrie commented: "He's doing all right. It's been a terrible time, but he's out of hospital now, so fingers crossed he's on the road to recovery."
Not having played a European Tour event for six weeks, Lawrie has kept himself busy at home and on a recent trip to Spain and so did not feel he had any rust to remove on his return.
He turned in a one under 35 and then, like Kjeldsen later in the day, birdied the first three holes en route to a four under front nine of 30.
Kjeldsen, who won the title in Seville last year, had what he described it as "a dream start" of three 20 footers in a row.
The 34 year old Dane, 51st in the world, has a second appearance at the Masters Tournament to look forward to in two weeks.
South African Louis Oosthuizen and Swede Alexander Noren still have a chance of making it to Augusta by winning this week - they need to move into the world's top 50 - and they began with rounds of 67 and 69 respectively.
