Sergio Garcia was today stepping up his bid for a second victory in three years in the Mallorca Classic. Garcia, first and second here in the last two years, carded a level-par 70 on a tough opening day at Pula Golf Club which saw only 11 players break par and a string of high scores.

Defending champion Jose Maria Olazabal, who has been redesigning the course for the past three years, crashed to a 78 which included a nine on the 17th, while Ireland's Padraig Harrington recorded a 77 and 2005 rookie of the year Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano an 84.

Gary Murphy, Sweden's Niclas Fasth and South African Andrew McLardy shared the lead on four under par and Garcia quickly closed to within three shots of that when play resumed on Friday morning.

Starting from the 10th, the Ryder Cup star birdied the par-four 11th to improve to one under par as he looked to post a good score before the arrival of strong winds forecast for later in the day.

Playing partner Paul McGinley - one of five members of Europe's victorious team from the K Club - also birdied the same hole to move to four over par and improve his chances of making the halfway cut.