VALDERRAMA, October 27, 2011 (AFP) - Scotland's Richie Ramsay led the Andalucia Masters by two shots on Thursday, but Sergio Garcia, who romped to a huge Castello Masters triumph last weekend, was waiting to pounce.
Ramsay, the 28-year-old Scot, fired a six under par 65 to lead by two from England's Ross Fisher.
Garcia, fresh from his 11-shot victory at Castellon four days ago, carded a one-under to be five off the pace after the first round.
"Valderrama is the kind of course that suits me," said Ramsay, who was third last weekend.
"I worked out a good game plan with my caddie about how to play it in the wind and it's always nice to have a 65 around a classic course like this because it’s had The Ryder Cup and so many great champions."
The Scot was three under at the turn and then went birdie-eagle before another gain at the 15th. His only setback was a six at the 536-yard 17th.
Garcia also eagled the 11th to go to four under, but in the end he had to settle for a one under 70.
"It was a tough day out there," said Garcia. "The course was soft because of the rain, but with this amount of wind Valderrama is always tough.
"I got to 4 under after 11, but I guess it was a good round. We had a bit of fortune on 11 with a chip-in and then we got a little bit unfortunate on 13 and 17 with the drives.
Leading first round scores of the EPGA Andalucia Masters here on Thursday (GBR & IRL unless stated, par 71):
65 - Richie Ramsay
67 - Ross Fisher
68 - Stephen Gallacher, Gregory Havret (FRA)
70 - David Drysdale, Sergio Garcia (ESP), Scott Strange (AUS), Peter Lawrie
71 - Francesco Molinari (ITA), Martin Wiegele (AUT), Stephen Dodd, Miguel Angel Jimenez (ESP), Alejandro Canizares (ESP), Martin Kaymer (GER), David Lynn
72 - Soren Kjeldsen (DEN), David Howell, Maarten Lafeber (NED), Peter Hanson (SWE), Justin Rose, Shane Lowry, Ignacio Garrido (ESP), Mark Foster
73 - Christian Nilsson (SWE), Graeme McDowell, Oliver Wilson, Soren Hansen (DEN), Rafael Echenique (ARG), Graeme Storm, Raphael Jacquelin (FRA), Simon Khan, Brett Rumford (AUS), Romain Wattel (FRA), Thomas Bjorn (DEN), Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (ESP)
Selected
74 - James Kingston (RSA),
75 - Jose-Maria Olazabal (ESP)
76 - John Parry, Shiv Kapur (IND), Andrew Dodt (AUS), George Coetzee (RSA)
77 - Anthony Kang (USA), Matthew Zions (AUS)
78 - Keith Horne (RSA)
79 - Richard Green (AUS), Paul McGinley, Marcus Fraser (AUS)
81 - Thomas Aiken (RSA)
"They were actually good shots, but in Valderrama shots need not only to be good but on the perfect spot. All in all, shooting under par on this course is never a bad thing."