Pablo Larrazábal led the home challenge on the opening morning of the Reale Seguros Open de España as the Spaniard moved into an early lead at Real Club de Golf de Sevilla.
The in-form 28 year old, who has finished in the top 25 in five of his nine European Tour starts this year including the last four, moved to three under par with birdies at the 11th, 12th and 17th.
That gave him an early lead on the 100th anniversary of the event, which was also the first event when The European Tour started 40 years ago.
Sweden’s Michael Jonzon and France’s Benjamin Hebert led the chase on two under, with a host of big names on one under during the early stages, including Ryder Cup brothers Edoardo and Francesco Molinari.
They were alongside last year’s runner-up James Morrison, Swede Alex Noren, Dutchman Joost Luiten and Scottish pair George Murray and Richie Ramsay.
It was a wet and windy opening morning and when Larrazábal bogeyed the 432 yard 18th, his ninth, he slipped back alongside Jonzon and Francesco Molinari on two under.
The Italian's brother double-bogeyed the 18th, however, to be one over.
With Larrazábal falling away, it was Molinari coping best with the conditions.
A pitch to six feet at the long fifth helped him to move to three under and one in front of Jonzon. Only nine of the 78 players - half the field had yet to tee off - were under par at that stage.
