England’s Jonathan Lomas birdied his final hole at Pula Golf Club in Majorca to take a one shot lead after the first round of the Mallorca Classic.
Lomas, looking for a second European Tour title, opened with a five under par 65 to lead from fellow Englishman Mark Foster and Irishman Gary Murphy.
The 37 year old Lomas, whose previous win came in the 1996 Czech Open, will be eyeing a second title that would also earn him a place in the in the HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai next month.
Lomas picked up five birdies in a flawless round, including one on his final hole, the ninth, which took him to the top of the leaderboard.
John Bickerton, winner of the Abama Open de Canarias a fortnight ago, continued his run of good form with a three under par 67 to lie alongside three other Englishmen, Paul Broadhurst, Sam Little and Simon Khan, runner-up to Sergio Garcia 12 months ago.
They share fourth place with Miguel Angel Jiménez, who leads the home challenge. Garcia began the defence of his title with a 69, the same score as compatriot Miguel Angel Martin, who is one place below the 116th spot that will ensure playing rights for next year, with just this event to count.
Meanwhile, European Ryder Cup Captain Ian Woosnam was forced to withdraw with an injured shoulder, ending the 47 year old’s hopes of a grandstand finish to his season.
Woosnam finished fifth last week in the Open de Madrid to end a poor spell in which he had missed seven cuts out of nine starts.
He is not in next week's Volvo Masters finale, so the Welshman was looking to sign off 2005 on a high note, bidding for his 30th European Tour title.
But his bid at Pula ended painfully at the 17th where he hit out of bounds from the rough and decided to call it a day.
"It's a disappointing way to finish the season," said Woosnam. "After last week I was looking for a good tournament.
"I hurt my shoulder on the fifth tee - just hitting it too hard when you're too old."
