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Madrid - Luke Donald, who missed out on the European PGA championship at Wentworth by a shot to fellow Briton Simon Khan at Wentworth last weekend, held a share of the lead after the first round of the Madrid Masters on Thursday.
The US-based Englishman shot a 65 to join Jamie Donaldson and Rhys Davies.
This trio were one shot clear of the Netherland's Maarten Lafeber and Irishman Paul McGinley.
Donald, who needed an eagle at the last after a seven on the penultimate hole to force a play-off at Wentworth, produced two eagles on Thursday.
"I can't remember the last time I had two in a round. I don't think I've had one on the USPGA Tour all year," said Donald after almost holing his 275-yard approach to the 653-yard ninth and then hit another rescue club 253 yards to seven feet on the 16th.
Davies, in his rookie season, is already a winner in Morocco and matched the seven birdies produced by Donaldson who is still looking for his first tour win.
Donald, the highest-ranked player in the field, out-scored playing partner Sergio Garcia, who is without a top three finish since November 2008, by seven.
The 2005 US Open champion Michael Campbell had a day to forget, finishing with an 80 after double bogeying the first and then losing two balls in a quadruple bogey at the third.
Campbell said: "I was going to pull out after nine holes, but just wanted to play some golf."
McGinley, who has undergone recent surgery on his knee, is not ruling out regaining his Ryder Cup place, having played in three winning teams from 2002-2006.
The Dubliner said: "I've got to do something very substantial, but I'm certainly not discounting my chances."
Leading scores (Gbr & Irl unless stated):
65 - Jamie Donaldson, Luke Donald, Rhys Davies
66 - Maarten Lafeber (NED), Paul McGinley
67 - Francesco Molinari (ITA), Jarmo Sandelin (SWE), Phillip Price, Johan Edfors (SWE), Brett Rumford (AUS), Mark F Haastrup (DEN), Niclas Fasth (SWE), Bradley Dredge
68 - Alvaro Velasco (ESP), Thomas Aiken (RSA), Peter Baker, Louis Oosthuizen (RSA), Julien Guerrier (FRA), Eirik Tage Johansen (NOR), Richard Finch, Markus Brier (AUT), Benjamin Hebert (FRA), Gregory Havret (FRA), Ross McGowan
69 - Damien McGrane, Danny Lee (NZL), Stephen Dodd, Shane Lowry, Christian Nilsson (SWE), Shiv Kapur (IND), Nick Dougherty, Richard McEvoy, Stuart Manley, Alvaro Quiros (ESP), Raphael Jacquelin (FRA), Daniel Vancsik (ARG), Carl Suneson (ESP), David Drysdale, Stephen Gallacher, Tano Goya (ARG), Emanuele Canonica (ITA), Lorenzo Gagli (ITA)
70 - Patrik Sjoland (SWE), Simon Dyson, George Coetzee (RSA), Jose Manuel Lara (ESP), Thongchai Jaidee (THA), Sion E bebb, Robert Rock, James Ruth, Mark Foster
71 - Jeppe Huldahl (DEN), Soren Hansen (DEN), Martin Kaymer (GER), Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (IND), Gary Lockerbie, Jamie Elson, David Dixon, Ignacio Garrido (ESP), Marcus Fraser (AUS), Fredrik Andersson Hed (SWE)
Selected
72 - Sergio Garcia (ESP), Mark Brown (NZL), Chapchai Nirat (THA)
73 - Anthony Kang (USA), Wen-chong Liang (CHN)
74 - Scott Hend (AUS)
77 - Scott Strange (AUS)
80 - Michael Campbell (NZL)
DQ - Hennie Otto (RSA)
