Open de Espana 2016: Thursday Leaderboard Scores and Highlights

Alexander Levy topped the leaderboard after the first day of the Open de Espana, as he shot a five-under 66 to give himself a one-shot lead on the field. 

The chasing pack on four-under consisted of Stuart Manley, Andrew Johnston, Alejandro Canizares and defending champion James Morrison.

Here is the leaderboard after Day 1 in Valderrama:

Position	Golfer	To Par	Day 1
1	Alexander Levy	-5	66
T2	Stuart Manley	-4	67
T2	Andrew Johnston	-4	67
T2	James Morrison	-4	67
T2	Alejandro Canizares	-4	67
6	Pablo Larrazabal	-3	68
T7	Jordi Garcia Pinto	-2	69
T7	Joakim Lagergren	-2	69
T7	Martin Kaymer	-2	69
T7	Richie Ramsay	-2	69

The full leaderboard can be found at the European Tour's official website.

Levy Sets the Early Pace

Kicking off with the back nine first, Levy began in fine fashion as he birdied the 10th and 12th holes.

After dropping a shot on the 13th, he responded strongly with three more gains at the 14th, 16th and 17th before another bogey on the 18th.

Two more birdies and steady pars in his final seven holes closed out an excellent round for the Frenchman amid a difficult opening day in Spain, as the European Tour noted:

In the contingent behind him, Morrison enjoyed a solid round with just a single blemish on his scorecard coming on the second hole. 

The Englishman ended with a strong back nine, including birdies at the 10th, 14th and this neat chip and putt from the bunker at the 17th:

His compatriot, Johnston, was similarly impressive. He picked up one fewer shot, but he did not drop a single one throughout the whole round—something he was evidently delighted with:

With less than 20 players scoring under par, avoiding bogeys entirely is even more noteworthy. Johnston highlighted the greens as being particularly challenging on Twitter:

Andy Sullivan finished on level par—one of just seven players to do so on Thursday. A birdie on the third proved to be the highlight of an otherwise quiet front nine, but he kicked off the back nine in style with this long putt:

He then produced an even more impressive approach shot and follow-up at the 14th:

But, he had dropped shots on the two holes immediately prior and did so again on the 18th.

Host Sergio Garcia will be disappointed with a three-over 74, as he endured a disastrous second nine that included four bogeys, but the likes of Martin Kaymer and Ross Fisher are well poised to trouble Levy and those immediately behind him if they slip up on Friday at two- and one-under, respectively.