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Dunne has been in excellent form recently. Josh Hedges

Route 66 for Dunne as eagle finish gives him a share of the lead in Spain

The Wicklow man continued his strong form on the opening day of the Open de Espana.

PAUL DUNNE’S EXCELLENT form continued at the Open de Espana this afternoon as he carded five birdies and an eagle to hold a share of the lead with Scotland’s Marc Warren.

Dunne comes into this week off the back of consecutive top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour and is clearly full of confidence as he made a strong start, signing for an opening round 66 to sit on six-under par.

The Wicklow native picked up a shot on the first hole and although he bogeyed the second, hit the turn under-par after a birdie on the par-five fifth, before further birdies on 11, 13 and 16.

With conditions deteriorating as the day progressed as Centro Nacional de Golf, 25-year-old Dunne moved level with clubhouse leader Warren with a superb eagle three on the 18th, his second finishing within 10-yards of the hole.

“I’m pretty pleased,” Dunne said. “I find the greens quite tricky to read out there, especially on the front nine, so it was nice to get a couple of putts go in on the back nine and give myself a climb up the leaderboard.”

Home favourite Jon Rahm is a shot further behind on five-under par in a group including amateur Victor Pastor from Spain.

Gavin Moynihan, meanwhile, sits on level par after an opening round 72 as he looks to make the cut for the first time this season.

Dunne will begin his second round at 7.55am on Friday morning as he bids to continues Ireland’s strong tradition of victory at the Open de Espana, following previous wins from Eddie Polland, Eamonn Darcy, Pádraig Harrington and Peter Lawrie.

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