James Morrison defies strong winds to lead Andalucia Masters

Englishman James Morrison leads the Andalucia Masters by one shot after firing a sensational 64 in tough conditions on day one.

After opening his birdie account at the third, morning starter Morrison produced an impressive burst of scoring around the turn, reeling off an eagle and five birdies in seven holes from the sixth.

As strong winds arrived at Real Club de Golf Sotogrande in the afternoon, Morrison dropped his only shot of the day on the 15th before bouncing back with a stunning birdie at the 16th.

Two closing pars saw him set the clubhouse target on eight under par, and with conditions remaining tricky throughout the rest of the afternoon, no-one was able to catch him at the summit.

“I’m very happy,” said Morrison. “I knew the draw was going to be that way and we got more holes in this morning with no wind than we actually thought we were going to get in, so we had to make hay while the sun was shining and I did that.”

Germany’s Nick Bachem was alone in second on seven under, one ahead of Spanish defending champion Adrian Otaegui.

Daniel Gavins and Wil Besseling were in a tie for fourth on five under, with afternoon starter Jeong weon Ko among those a shot further back after 15 holes of his round when play was suspended at 19.22 local time due to fading light.