Tomas Jesus Munoz provided a sting in the tail on the first day of the Comunitat Valenciana Challenge de España in Valencia.

The 27-year-old from Torremolinos was the only afternoon starter to break par as a troublesome wind blew in from the sea. He didn't only break par; he trimmed it by five shots with a brilliant 67 that included eight birdies.

Munoz knows the magnificent El Saler course well and it paid dividends but even he was surprised to shoot so low after a weekend spent working on his putting.

"Last week I was putting badly," he said. "I spent last Saturday working with my father Jose at Guadalhorce. He knows my putting better than anyone. I tried five different putters and the one I used today was an old one which I used back in 1989 or 1990.

"I have played three or four tournaments at El Saler but this is my best round here."

On a leaderboard dominated by Spaniards, Munoz leads by one from Juan Angel Rosillo and by two from Didier de Vooght of Belgium and another Spaniard, Fernando Roca.

The best-placed British player is Simon Hurd from Leeds who carded a 71 in the morning having never seen El Saler and without time for a practise round. "I only arrived on Wednesday afternoon after finishing fifth in Nigeria and only managed to walk the front nine. But I was playing with fellow Yorkshireman Iain Pyman and he knows the course well."

A fourth Spaniard scored a hole-in-one. Tomas Aguado holed his five-iron tee shot at the 181-metre 12th hole. It was his fourth 'ace'.