SOTOGRANDE (SPAIN), June 28 ― Sergio Garcia admitted he had a special connection with Valderrama as he began his bid for a fourth title at the venue with an opening round 66 in the first round of the Andalucía Masters.

"I love this place, there is no doubt about that,” said 39-year-old Garcia who is five under, one shot behind leader Victor Perez of France.

"It kind of has something with me that helps me. Today was a great round, I hit the ball very well. It's probably the best that I've felt in quite a while.”

Garcia has won the last three stagings of the Anadalucia Masters at Valderrama in 2011, 2017 and 2018 and ten other top tens from 14 appearances at a course he admits is his favourite in the world.

"It's just the first round and we have to keep building on that and look forward to a good week. It's still Thursday, you've got to go one step at a time, there's still a lot of golf to be played,” added Garcia, the 2017 Masters champion.

South Africa's Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Malaysia's Gavin Green, Swede Anton Karlsson and American Sihwan Kim were all alongside Garcia at five under. ― AFP