It was a tale of two nines for Dan Brown as he fired two eagles in a spotless 63 during the first round of the 2024 Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters.
The Englishman opened his round with five successive pars before an eagle from around 35 feet at the par-five sixth set the tone for what was to come after the turn.
Brown found form on the greens as he carded an eagle and five birdies on the back nine to reach nine under par.
He was eventually overtaken at the top of the leaderboard by Julien Guerrier in the afternoon but Brown was pleased with his day's work, despite feeling he made a slow start.
He said: "The round actually started a bit slow but then I made an eagle on the sixth and then on the back nine, the last six or seven holes, I managed to hole some putts and had a chip-in on the 16th.
"It was good. It was a good, steady day and then a few putts rolled in towards the end.
"I was just kind of getting used to the speed of the greens a little bit. They're a lot quicker this morning to what we've had in the practice rounds.
"So the first five holes was a little bit timid. Basically I just got the speed of the greens and felt comfortable.
"As soon as you see one or two going in then all of a sudden you think you can hole everything.
"It's obviously soft after all the rain that they've had. But on the front nine you can't really feel the wind that much - the back nine's a lot more exposed so as soon as you get on the tenth tee or walking down the tenth you realise how windy it is.
"It's definitely two different nines out there."
