Golf - Spanish Open update:Scotland's Scott Jamieson, playing just the 11th European Tour event of his career, tops the leaderboard after the first round of the Spanish Open in Barcelona.
The 27-year-old Glaswegian shot a six-under-par 66 at El Prat to end day one ahead of England’s Steve Webster, Indian Jeev Milkha Singh, France’s Romain Wattel and Spaniard Pablo Larrazabal.
Already with two top-10 finishes this season after graduating from the Challenge Tour, Jamieson grabbed eight birdies and would have been clear out in front but for bogeys at the 14th and fourth.
He is a former student at Augusta State and dreams of returning there one day to play in The Masters.
“We were allowed to play the course once a year and that was thrilling,” he said.
“I didn’t get a wink of sleep the night before the first time I played. In my first three rounds I shot 80 — same as Rory McIlroy last month, of course — and on my fourth I finally had a respectable 74.
“Not to make excuses, we always played in the winter when it was cold and wet.
“You look at the first hole and during The Masters those guys are hitting nine-iron and wedge into the green, but my shortest second shot was a four-iron.
“It’s a really special place.”
Peter Lawrie and Shane Lowry are just two and three shots off Jamieson's lead respectively.
Lawrie didn't make the best of starts after setting off from the 10th, where he bogeyed the par five. It mattered little for it was the Dubliner's only dropped shot of the day.
Three birdies - 12th, 16th and 18th - brought Lawrie to the turn in two under 34. From there the 2008 champion recorded further birdies at the third and seventh to sign for a four under 68.
Lowry's burst of birdies was more compacted and came in the latter stages of his round. Consecutive bogeys at eight and nine threatened to put a different complexion on the day but the Offaly pro was able to turn it around.
His first birdie of the day came at the short 13th and was quickly followed by another at 14. The real highpoint came with a run of three birdies at the very end for a round of 69.
Gareth Maybin shot a one-over 73 while Damien McGrane was one of the later starters and was struggling at three over through nine holes.
