McArthur and Kellett lead Scots with 67s in 

Madrid Challenge

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An eagle 2 at his penultimate hole sent Alfredo Garcia-Heredia hurtling straight to the top of affairs at El Encin Golf Hotel as the Spaniard carded an eight under par 64 in the opening round of the Challenge de Madrid.

The 33 year old from Gijon, on his nation’s northern coast, put the finishing touches on an exemplary opening salvo with a holed wedge on the par four 17th hole, which alongside eight further birdies and a couple of dropped shots sees him lead by one.

There are three players just a stroke shy of the leading Spaniard’s impressive total, however, with Frenchman Sebastien Gros, Michael Jonzon of Sweden and Ireland’s Ruaidhri McGee all seven under.

For Garcia-Heredia, however, it marked an upturn in fortunes for a man that has felt for a number of years that his play was not getting the rewards it perhaps deserved, but there was certainly no shortage of riches in return for his fine golf on Wednesday.

“I played really well and hit very good shots,” said the Spaniard, whose best European Challenge Tour performance was a runner-up finish at the 2008 Challenge de España.
Ruaidhri McGee (-7) said
“It was good today, I just played really solid. Fairways and greens, holed a few putts on the back nine too. I played well in Kenya but didn’t get much out of it, so I was looking forward to playing this week and I’m playing pretty well so I’ll see how it goes.
“I headed off to Palm Springs in California for a month over the winter, as I’ve got some friends out there, so I got in a bit of warm weather practice. I played a bit in Portugal just before Madeira too.
“I didn’t think this course would suit me as it is wide and I don’t hit it that long, but I enjoy putting and there are plenty of slopes out there, so I enjoyed it. This course is all about the second shot, and it is soft, so you know it is going to stop.
“I’ll take three more of those, so we’ll see. I’ve got a medical extension for the first three events, so I just need to get my category up so I can play more events the rest of the year.”
Scotland's challenge is headed jointly by Andrew McArthur and Ross Kellett, both of whom had five-under-par 67s. They are joint ninth overnight.
There are four more Scots on the 70 mark - Duncan Stewart, George Murray, Elliot Saltman and Jamie McLeary.

FIRST-ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 72

64 A Garcia-Heredia (Esp) ,
65 R McGee (Irl) , S Gros (Fra) , M Jonzon (Swe) ,
66 N Elvira  (Esp) , R Gouveia (Por) , N Ravano (Ita) , J Sarasti  (Esp) 

67 A McArthur  (Sco) , S Kim (USA) , S Soderberg (Swe) , D Foos (Ger) , R Kellett (Sco) , J Glennemo (Swe) , E Cuartero Blanco  (Esp) ,
68 M Trappel  (Aut) , R Kakko  (Fin) , C Hanson (Eng) , W Harrold (Eng) , T Murray (Eng) , P Maddy (Eng) , P Lawrie (Irl) , J Billing (Swe) , J Lara (Esp) , J Fahrbring (Swe)
69 G Porteous (Eng) , A Gee  (Eng) , P Oriol (Esp) , C Aguilar  (Esp) , P Figueiredo  (Por) , J Rask (Swe) , S Wakefield (Eng) , A Hartø  (Den) , P Martin Benavides (Esp) , B Ritthammer (Ger) , S Tiley (Eng) , S Fallon (Eng) , B Stone (RSA)
70 D Stewart (Sco) , K Ferrie (Eng) , D Gaunt (Eng) , G Murray  (Sco) , V Blazquez (Esp) , C Del Moral (Esp) , A Saddier (Fra) , E Saltman  (Sco) , H Satama (Fin) , S Manley (Wal) , C Gloet  (Den) , J Garcia Del Moral (Esp) , T Linard (Fra) , S Walker (Eng) , C Berardo (Fra) , M Delpodio  (Ita) , J McLeary  (Sco), N Kimsey (Eng), A Tadini (Ita) , C Paisley  (Eng) , J Senior (Eng) , D Suazo Gonzalez (Esp)
71 A Bernadet  (Fra) , E Goya (Arg) , T Pulkkanen  (Fin) , A Velasco (Esp) , B Åkesson (Swe) , J Makitalo  (Fin) , T Sluiter  (Ned) , B Stow (Eng) , N Lemke (Swe) , L Tintera  (Cze) , F Calmels  (Fra) , S Garcia Rodriguez (Esp) , G Lockerbie  (Eng) , H Joannes  (Bel) , J Gallegos  (Esp) , B Virto Astudillo (Esp) , S Luna (Esp) , J Dantorp (Swe) , M Orrin (Eng) , L Gagli  (Ita) , P Whiteford (Sco) , G Maybin (Nir) , V Riu  (Fra)
72 S Henry  (Sco) , C Balmaseda  (Esp) , P Archer (Eng) , M Søgaard  (Den) , C Shinkwin (Eng) , D Im (USA) , A Ahokas (Fin) , J Gonnet  (Fra) , J Walters (RSA)
73 A Hortal  (Esp) , J Bragulat  (Esp) , D Coupland (Eng) , R Davies (Wal) , M Lafeber (Ned) , C Bouniol (Fra) , L Nemecz (Aut) , B Etchart  (Esp) , D Ulrich (Sui) , J Stalter (Fra) , P Dwyer (Eng) , R Coles (Eng) , B Evans  (Eng) , J Lima  (Por) , J Guerrier  (Fra) , W Booth  (Sco) , S Grant  (Irl) , F Bergamaschi (Ita) , S Heisele (Ger) , T Nemecz (Aut) , P Herreria (Esp) , G Woolgar (Eng) , J Smith (Eng)
74 J Ballesteros (Esp) , D Law (Sco) , D Huizing (Ned) , P Widegren  (Swe) , N Raymond (Eng) , A Pavan (Ita) , J Scrivener (Aus) , M Wiegele  (Aut) , J Hansen  (Den) , J Doherty  (Sco) , J Legarrea (Esp) , A Halvorsen  (Nor) , S Thornton (Irl)
75 A Snobeck  (Fra) , K Benz (Sui) , N Quintarelli (Ita) , J Huldahl (Den) , A Rota (Ita) , F Andersson Hed (Swe) , C Mivis  (Bel) , E Larrañaga (Esp)
76 K Hesbois  (Bel) , C McDonnell (Eng) , M Stewart (Sco) , R Evans  (Eng) , J Simon De Miguel (Esp) , X Ruiz Fonhof  (Ned) , N Bertasio (Ita) , M Galiano Aguilar (am) (Esp)
77 L Motta (Ita) , C Ford (Eng) , T Elissalde  (Fra) , P Gal  (Cze) , R Hahn (Hun)
78 P Relecom  (Bel) , S Brown (Eng) , A Domingo (Esp) , E Dubois (Fra) , P Howard  (Eng) , N Geyger (Chi)
80 D Suchan  (Cze) 

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