EUROPEAN TOUR: LEE WESTWOOD has high hopes of going into the US Masters with another win under his belt after starting his defence of the Andalucian Open with a seven-under-par 65 at Aloha yesterday.
But two of Europe's young guns - one of them the world's number one amateur playing his first Tour event - are chasing Westwood hard.
Sheffield's Danny Willett, the 20-year-old son of a clergyman, came in with a 66 after two eagles in the first seven holes of his debut, while Rory McIlroy, now 18 but only six months into his professional career, showed his rich promise again with a 68 when the wind was much stronger after lunch.
The young Ulsterman was joined on four under par by Damien McGrane.
It was a good day too for Jose Maria Olazabal on his return from seven months out battling rheumatic pains. Worried for his future at the end of last year, the double Masters champion returned a 71 which he claimed was "better than I expected".
Westwood did not register a bogey after deciding to fly back from America to defend the title and then return across the Atlantic for the Masters in two weeks.
He began and finished with 18-foot putts, and had five more birdies in between.
Course management was key, just as it will be at Augusta, and Westwood, looking to stretch his lead in the Ryder Cup points race, commented: "I've always been pretty good at that.
"It's common sense really - but nobody ever said that everybody on the European Tour had common sense.
"I've got one eye on the Masters, but I didn't fancy another two-week stint in the States, and nothing beats winning for confidence."
Westwood was back playing with his Ryder Cup partner Darren Clarke, but the Dungannon man mixed an eagle and three birdies with four bogeys and a double bogey. That added up to a one-over 73, and Clarke revealed afterwards he had blisters on both feet caused by a pair of new shoes.
"Don't call me stupid because I know I'm stupid," he said. "I played like a part-time professional and part-time 10-handicapper."
Willett has a plus-five handicap, is the reigning English champion, was a Walker Cup team-mate of McIlroy's last September and his recent win in the Spanish Amateur took him to the top of the world rankings.
An invitation to play this week's event quickly followed.
"I was quite nervous, but starting with a 25-foot eagle putt took a lot of the nerves out of the way," he said. "I proved to myself I can play a professional golf course and play well."
Almost a year ago in Portugal, Spain's Pablo Martin became the first amateur to win on the European Tour, so does Willett think he can emulate him? "I was joking about it before coming here. You never know, it's always in the back of your mind, but you can't think about it on the course," he said.
Willett has his fireman brother, Matthew, as his caddie, and when asked if his father, a vicar at Christ Church in Hackenthorpe, ever carried his bag he replied: "He used to, but he stopped after telling me to hit through some trees. I took about 10."
McIlroy, whom Willett beat in the second round of the British Amateur last June, was happy to show some form again after three successive missed cuts in Dubai, Malaysia and South Korea.
Leading amateur at last year's British Open, he quickly posted third and fourth-place finishes to secure a Tour card after turning professional in September.
On his recent lean spell, he said: "I knew I was close and that it was only a matter of time before I started producing the scores.
"I'm not surprised Danny's up there. I practised with him on Tuesday and from 130 yards in he was stiffing it. Maybe he can do a Pablo."
OPEN DE ANDALUCIA FIRST ROUND SCORES
Aloha Golf Club, Marbella, Spain
(British unless stated, Irish in bold, par 72)
65 - L Westwood.
66 - JA Larsen (Nor), (x) D Willett.
67 - M Millar (Aus).
68 - C Cevaer (Fra), Damien McGrane(Ire), Rory McIlroy(N Ire), M Lafeber (Ned), E Canonica (Ita).
69 - J Parron (Spa), H Nystrom (Swe), P Hedblom (Swe), D Drysdale, C Suneson (Spa), A Noren (Swe), M Jonzon (Swe), F Praegant (Aut), G Bourdy (Fra), M Foster, Thomas Levet (Fra).
70 - R Bland, P Sjoland (Swe), J Sandelin (Swe), M Siem (Ger), P Edberg (Swe), S Manley, D Lynn, O Fisher, J Donaldson, A Forsyth, A Canete (Arg), P Martin (Spa), B Dredge.
71 - G Orr, D Griffiths, A Hansen (Den), M Erlandsson (Swe), J Van de Velde (Fra), M Kaymer (Ger), S Dyson, S Wakefield, J Edfors (Swe), J-M Olazabal (Spa), G Paddison (Nzl), M Brier (Aut), E De La Riva (Spa), I Garrido (Spa).
72 - M Lundberg (Swe), R Dinwiddie, D Park, R Gonzalez (Arg), Peter Lawrie(Ire), D Frost (Rsa), J Bickerton, S Khan, G Clark, A Wall, P Hanson (Swe), L Slattery, T Bjorn (Den), P Archer, M Quiros (Spa).
73 - RJ Derksen (Ned), A Velasco (Spa), B Hafthorsson (Ice), P-U Johansson (Swe), R Echenique (Arg), P Linhart (Spa), A Salto (Spa), S Luna (Spa), R Cabrera Bello (Spa), S Little, C Lee, J-B Gonnet (Fra), J Abbate (Arg), P Whiteford, P Waring, P Gustafsson (Swe), Darren Clarke(N Ire), S Bebb, G Canizares (Spa), MA Martin (Spa), B Teilleria (Fra), R McGowan, F Andersson Hed (Swe). 74 - F Molinari (Ita), J Luiten (Ned), M Vibe-Hastrup (Den), P Larrazabal (Spa), S Delagrange (Fra), S Struver (Ger), G Fdez-Castano (Spa), J Backstrom (Swe), H Otto (Rsa), C Rodiles (Spa), Gary Murphy(Ire), S Gallacher, MA Jimenez (Spa), T Whitehouse, F Zanotti (Par), B Lane.
75 - U Van Den Berg (Rsa), G Houston, M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra), A McLean, S Drummond, JM Lara (Spa), F Aguilar (Chi), S Walker, P Oriol (Spa), F Widmark (Swe), P Golding.
76 - M Wiegele (Aut), Z Scotland, JM Arruti (Spa), B Barham, F Delamontagne (Fra), A Quiros (Spa), I Pyman, J Lorca (Spa), LS James, S Dodd, M Warren, R Finch, J-F Lucquin (Fra), J Kamte (Rsa).
77 - MA Carlsson (Swe), A Haig (Rsa), A Oldcorn, P Terreni (Ita), D Dixon, J-F Remesy (Fra), D Borrego (Spa), J Zapata (Arg), A McLardy (Rsa).
78 - S Webster, P Lawrie, JM Carriles (Spa).
79 - L Westerberg (Swe), L Claverie (Spa), M Tunnicliff.
80 - P Baker.
81 - B Evans.
