Jacobson takes opening honours with 64

Sweden's Fredrik Jacobson fired a brilliant eight-under-par 64 in tugging winds at Valderrama on Thursday to move two strokes clear of the field in the Volvo Masters first round.

The 29-year-old from Molndal, twice a winner on this season's European Tour, mixed nine birdies with a bogey at the par-three 15th to complete the second-best round of his career.

Marginally better, he told a news conference, was the 60 he shot in the opening round of last month's German Masters at Gut Larrchenhof.

"Both are great rounds in a way but coming close to a 59 is something special, so I've got to vote for that," he said.

"But in these conditions with this course, a little bit more can happen than at the German Masters, especially with all the trees around here. The wind was quite strong today and I never expected to shoot such a low round.

"If you were under par today, I think it was a very, very good score," he added, after a day when preferred lies were in operation following torrential rain earlier in the week.

Jacobson's 64 left him two ahead of Danish early leader Anders Hansen, who produced a blemish-free 66 playing on his own in bright morning sunshine at the head of the 57-strong field.

A further two shots back in third was Spaniard Carlos Rodiles, with twice U.S. Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal and Australian left-hander Nick O'Hern tied for fourth on 70 in the European Tour's season-ending event.

Defending champion Colin Montgomerie, who shared last year's title with Bernhard Langer after they squared the first two extra holes in gathering gloom, was in a group of eight on 71.

Level with Montgomerie at one under were fellow Ryder Cup players Sergio Garcia, Thomas Bjorn and Niclas Fasth of Sweden.

However Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke, pre-tournament favourite in the absence of newly crowned European number one Ernie Els, struggled to a 77 that included six bogeys.

Clarke's playing partner, 2001 winner Padraig Harrington, fared slightly better, birdies at 17 and at the last giving him a four-over-par 76.

Despite playing in the more difficult afternoon conditions, Jacobson reeled off four birdies to reach the turn in 32.

He then sandwiched five more around his solitary bogey at the 15th, where he found a greenside bunker, to vault to the top of the leaderboard.

"I didn't miss too many greens and, in this wind, to keep the ball in play all the time was a great benefit," said the Swede, who won the Hong Kong and Portuguese Opens on this season's European Tour.

"A few of the shots ended up really close, to within a couple of feet, and that's a good bonus on a tough course. I don't mind a bit of wind."

Hansen, the last player to qualify for the European Tour's lucrative season-ending event, reeled off six birdies and took just two hours 30 minutes to complete his round as the first player out.

He birdied the first, fourth, sixth, seventh, 11th and the last, completing his round as the group behind him were playing the 12th hole.

He had the option to be partnered on the day by a non-competing professional, but preferred instead to play by himself with a marker.

"I'm fairly quick and I didn't really want to stand and wait for some other guy. Two hours and 30 minutes is very quick for a golf round around Valderrama," he said.

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