Erlandsson leads with course record in Seville

A late charge by Spaniard Jordi Garcia could not stop Sweden's Martin Erlandsson from taking the lead of the Spanish Open with a new course record of seven-under-par 65 on Thursday.

Erlandsson started his campaign with a birdie at the first and produced another six during his bogey-less round to take an early clubhouse lead on the par-72 course at Real Club de Golf de Sevilla.

Garcia, who like the Swede teed off on the 10th tee, had threatened to upstage Erlandsson as he surged up the leaderboard thanks partly to an eagle three at the 13th.

A bogey at the par-three 17th, followed by his sixth birdie of the day at the last hole, left the Spaniard tied for second place on 66 with countryman Ignacio Garrido.

England's Gary Clark sits in fourth place on 67, one shot ahead of a six-strong chasing pack which includes Denmark's Soren Hansen and Sweden's Henrik Nystrom.

Erlandsson holds the honour of owning the course record at The Belfry after shooting a 63 at last year's British Masters.

After a brilliant display on the "tricky" Jose Maria Olazabal-designed course, the 34 year old, whose only previous European Tour victory came on Spanish soil in 2003, is hoping to keep the momentum going.

"It's a fantastic course. The rough is brutal so you need to find the fairways off the tee, and some of the pin positions are quite tricky. But it's a lot of fun to play," said Erlandsson.

"Tomorrow's a fresh day, but I just have to keep playing the same way. That's easy to say, but it's not so easy to do."

Three players on the comeback trail - Colin Montgomerie, Darren Clarke and John Daly - were all hoping to use one of the oldest tournaments on the European continent as a springboard to relaunch their respective games.

But only Montgomerie, who is eager to cement a place in this year's Ryder Cup team having missed the US Masters after slumping in the world rankings, broke par with a two-under-par 70.

Clarke, who won the Asian Open last week, is languishing tied for 48th place after carding a 72.

Daly, who is battling drinking and motivational problem that have left him depending on sponsor's invitations to get into most tournaments, finished on three over par.

Elsewhere, defending champion Charl Schwartzel of South Africa had five bogeys to only three birdies in an opening round that left him virtually out of contention at two over par.