Four days after Rhys Davies won in Morocco the Welsh flag was flying high again in Malaga - thanks this time to Bradley Dredge.
With The European Tour finally reaching European soil for the first time this season Dredge led the Open de Andalucia de Golf by one after playing his first 13 holes in four under par at Parador de Málaga Golf.
The 36 year old believes Davies, 12 years his junior, could become a contender for the first-ever Ryder Cup in Wales this October, but he has not yet given up hope of being at The Celtic Manor Resort himself.
"For us Welsh guys this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," said Dredge, who finished second in the first qualifying event in Switzerland last September, but has since dropped to 21st on the points list.
"I need to win tournaments and these are the sort I have to look at," commented Dredge on the eve of this week's tournament. "Unfortunately I've not played well enough to get in the Majors or World Championships, but I know what I have to do."
One stroke behind were former Ryder Cup star David Howell and fellow Englishman Sam Hutsby, who turned professional after playing for Great Britain & Ireland in the Walker Cup last year. Howell, who has dropped from ninth in the Official World Golf Rankings to a current position of 408th, had an eventful back nine.
Four birdies in his first seven holes, including a chip-in at the short 11th, put him top of the leaderboard, but then came a double bogey at the 449 yard 18th. His drive was pulled left into the trees and could not found in the permitted five minutes.
That meant a long walk back to the tee and he did well in the end to drop only two strokes. While that was happening playing partner Barry Lane snapped a club playing a recovery shot from behind a tree, but despite being down to 13 clubs as a result he birdied two of the next three holes to recover to one over.
Tournament host Miguel Angel Jiménez, one of the favourites for the €166,660 first prize, was down on two over after 11 holes, as was his playing partner Nick Dougherty.
