Aaron Rai close to the leader after his Fairmont round

The Spaniard carded a blemish-free 62, knocking in 10 birdies to leave the chasing pack in his wake.

That left him on 10 under par.

England’s Matt Wallace and South Africa’s Bryce Easton are tied for second on seven under par.

But there are hopes for local success after the first of four rounds, as a further shot behind that pair is Wolverhampton’s former Shropshire & Herefordshire junior Aaron Rai, who is in a four-way tie with countrymen Chris Paisley and Garrick Porteous, and Irishman Padraig Harrington.

Rai hit seven birdies on his round of 66, but his scorecard was blemished slightly with a bogey on the 10th hole which would have left him alongside Wallace and Easton tied for second.

Compatriots

Hawkstone Park’s Ashley Chesters carded a round of 72 on par that included three birdies, a bogey and a double bogey on the 17th to leave thim tied for 54th with 10 other golfers including compatriots Oliver Wilson and James Morrison.

Sat behind him a shot over par is Ludlow’s Welsh golfer Oliver Farr.

His round of 73 included just the two birdies and three bogeys to lave him tied with 10 other golfers for 65th.

Otaegui said of his leading first day on the course: “I putted really well.

“I also played very well from tee to green, felt confident and relaxed.

“Almost everything went well, 62 is really, really good.”

The 27-year-old started with three successive birdies at the first, second and third on his way to reaching the turn in 32.

A further six birdies on the back nine ensured a memorable day for the world number 248, who added: “I felt like a good round could come.

“I didn’t know how good but the last two weeks, even if the results were not very good, I was playing very well from tee to green and feeling good.

“But the putting wasn’t there. But the putter was hot today, that was the main difference,” the 27-year-old added.

Ireland’s Padraig Harrington and English trio Chris Paisley, Aaron Rai and Garrick Porteous each carded six-under 66s, with compatriot Also among the chasing pack behind the leader is Lee Westwood, among a cluster of players a shot further back from Rai.

His five-under round of 67 included eight birdies, but he was hampered by a bogey on the fifth hole and a double bogey on the 17th.

The former world number one said: “This golf course is set up for tourists I suppose and there’s quite a lot of room.

“You’re not going to see better greens all year, they’re absolutely immaculate.

“I think they’re some of the best links greens I’ve ever seen.

“You can give yourself a lot of chances.

“The par fives, most of them are reachable, and there’s a couple of reachable par fours where you can get close so, yeah, it’s scoreable.”

He’d earlier talked about the Covid-19 protocols being different to those currently in America, adding: “People are talking about comparing Europe with the US and their bubble is far less restrictive. Over there it’s just playing a golf tournament with no crowds.”