Matthieu Pavon takes the lead with another strong start at the Spanish Open

Matthieu Pavon carded an 8-under 63 on Thursday, October 12, to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Spanish Open. Last year, he had a brilliant start at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid with a 64 to end as the runner-up.

Pavon shot seven birdies and one bogey in the opening round of the Spanish Open. On the par-5 3rd hole, he carded an eagle. Wil Besseling was one stroke behind Pavon after the first round. Mike Lorenzo-Vera, Pedro Figueiredo, and Eddie Pepperell shot 7-under to finish the day in joint third place.

Pavon has not yet won on the European Tour, but he has had a good season so far, with five top-10 finishes and a runner-up finish at the Open d'Arcachon.

Ross Fisher, Nathan Kimsey, Deon Germishuys, Zander Lombard, Victor Garcia Broto, Calum Hill, Romain Langasque, Joost Luiten, Finn Tapio Pulkkanen, Shubhankar Sharma, and Marcel Siem are all three strokes behind the leader.

Defending champion Jon Rahm was tied for 17th place after shooting 4-under 67 in the first round. Rahm has won three times in his last four starts at the Spanish Open.

Spanish Open 2023 leaderboard explored

Here's the complete leaderboard of the Spanish Open 2023 after the first round:

• 1. Matthieu Pavon: -8
• 2. Wil Besseling: -7
• T3. Mike Lorenzo-Vera: -6
• T3. Eddie Pepperell: -6
• T3. Pedro Figueiredo: -6
• T6. Marcel Siem: -5
• T6. Tapio Pulkkanen: -5
• T6. Calum Hill: -5
• T6. Romain Langasque: -5
• T6. Victor Garcia Broto: -5
• T6. Deon Germishuys: -5
• T6. Zander Lombard: -5
• T6. Shubhankar Sharma: -5
• T6. Joost Luiten: -5
• T6. Ross Fisher: -5
• T6. Nathan Kimsey: -5
• T17. Kalle Samooja: -4
• T17. Marcus Helligkilde: -4
• T17. Jon Rahm: -4
• T17. Antoine Rozner: -4
• T17. Sami Välimäki: -4
• T17. Daniel Brown: -4
• T17. Grant Forrest: -4
• T24. John Parry: -3
• T24. Aaron Cockerill: -3
• T24. Santiago Tarrio: -3
• T24. Richard Mansell: -3
• T24. Ewen Ferguson: -3
• T24. Jeunghun Wang: -3
• T24. Alejandro Del Rey: -3
• T24. Thorbjørn Olesen: -3
• T24. Pablo Larrazábal: -3
• T24. Jorge Campillo: -3
• T34. Alexander Knappe: -2
• T34. Alex Fitzpatrick: -2
• T34. Jason Scrivener: -2
• T34. Marcus Kinhult: -2
• T34. Yannik Paul: -2
• T34. Edoardo Molinari: -2
• T34. Adrian Otaegui: -2
• T34. Wilco Nienaber: -2
• T34. Kiradech Aphibarnrat: -2
• T34. Oliver Bekker: -2
• T34. Daniel Gavins: -2
• T34. Matthew Jordan: -2
• T34. Stephen Gallacher: -2
• T34. Alexander Levy: -2
• T34. Daniel van Tonder: -2
• T34. Guido Migliozzi: -2
• T34. Julien Brun: -2
• T34. Alfredo Garcia-Heredia: -2
• T52. Oliver Hundebøll: -1
• T52. James Morrison: -1
• T52. Martin Simonsen: -1
• T52. Jeong weon Ko: -1
• T52. Adri Arnaus: -1
• T52. Rafa Cabrera Bello: -1
• T52. Lukas Nemecz: -1
• T52. Louis de Jager: -1
• T52. Sebastian Söderberg: -1
• T52. Todd Clements: -1
• T52. Mikael Lindberg: -1
• T52. Daan Huizing: -1
• T52. Joshua Lee: -1
• T52. Kazuki Higa: -1
• T52. Thomas Aiken: -1
• T52. Paul Waring: -1
• T52. Victor Perez: -1
• T52. Sebastian Garcia: -1
• T52. Angel Hidalgo: -1
• T52. Søren Kjeldsen: -1
• T52. Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño: -1
• T52. Fabrizio Zanotti: -1
• T52. Christoffer Bring: -1