For a moment Victor Riu was thinking about carding a sub-60 round in the first round of the Andalucía Costa del Sol Match Play 9 at La Cala Resort.

“When I realised I was 10-under after 15 holes I did have a slight think about the 59, but I just tried to take things shot by shot and not worry too much about the scoring – I am still really happy to have been 10-under today.”

That bogey-free 61 gave him a two-shot lead in what was the best performance of his professional career since joining the paid ranks 11 years ago. A former European Challenge Tour champion (2013 Swiss Challenge), the 32-year-old Frenchman reached the turn in six-under 30 and birdied four of his next five holes, to give himself an excellent chance of becoming only the third player in European Challenge Tour history to card a round of 59.

In the end that feat eluded him, but he was still delighted with his efforts. “It was a really good day,” he said. “Everything was really nice and it was really special to produce the best score of my career here. Coming into this week my long game had been really good but I was struggling a lot with my putting. I worked really hard on my putting over the weekend and it felt as though the hard work was worth it. I was also really happy today because my wedge game was also really strong. The course here is tricky and the pins were very difficult. My wedges are normally not the best part of my game but I used them really well today.

“It is really exciting to play in this tournament. You do not get too many opportunities as a professional to play match play events – except the Ryder Cup. I always really enjoyed playing in one-on-one matches as an amateur, and although that was more than 10 years ago I think it will suit me. I have made a really good start today – so I should hopefully make it through to the weekend.”

After 36 holes of stroke play, the top 32 players will battle it out in a series of nine-hole match play contests over the weekend.

Two adrift of Riu after the first round was England’s Charlie Ford, who made two eagles and four birdies on his way to an eight-under 63; while two further back on six-under par was Germany’s Julian Kunzenbacher, who finished second on the satellite Pro Golf Tour’s order of merit last season.

The leading Spaniard after a four-under 67 was Pablo Martín who ﷽﷽﷽﷽﷽﷽der 67 was Pablo MartíMartythe weekend in ve holes, to give himself an excellent chance of becoming only ng the paiBenavides, who made history in 2007 when he became the first amateur to win a European Tour event, the Estoril Open de Portugal. He followed that up with victories in the 2010 and 2011 Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa but has struggled in recent seasons.