Eamonn Darcy. Eamonn Darcy and Philip Walton are six shots behind  WelshmanIan Woosnam after the first round of the WINSTONgolf Senior Open in Germany.

The pair shot one under 71s as Woosnam, 55, rolled back the years with a majestic seven under par 65 to share the lead with Canadian Phil Jonas.

The 55 year old had seven birdies on a flawless card, five of them coming consecutively from the first hole – his tenth – to surge ahead of Englishman Jamie Spence and Dane Steen Tinning, who both shot 66.

It could have been even better, as the diminutive Welshman afterwards admitted he missed three putts from inside four feet on the stunning Open course at WINSTONgolf in Germany.

“It could have been a very low one,” said Woosnam, whose last win came in the 2011 Berenberg Masters, also played in Germany. “But I can’t really complain about a 65 and I played very well overall.”

The €400,000 event is played in a pro-am format, with each professional pairing up with an amateur.

Darcy and Walton are tied for 18th with Denis O’Sullivan’s 73 leaving him joint 36th.

Des Smyth, who is going through a rare lean period, had just one birdie on a three over 75, leaving him tied for 59th.

ROUND 1 SCORES

65 P Jonas (Can), I Woosnam (Wal) ,

66 J Spence (Eng), S Tinning (Den) ,

67 P Fowler (Aus), A Franco (Par), B Ruangkit (Tha), H Buhrmann (RSA), D Russell (Eng) ,

68 G Brand Jnr (Sco), J Quiros (Esp) ,

69 S Van Vuuren (RSA), P Wesselingh (Eng) ,

70 S Luna (Esp), T Price (Aus), P Golding (Eng), M McLean (Eng) ,

71 E Darcy (Irl), T Johnstone (Zim), G Ralph (Eng), R Thompson (USA), B Cameron (Eng), M Martin (Esp), B Longmuir (Sco), P Walton (Irl), T Thelen (USA) ,

72 S Bennett (Eng), P Eales (Eng), N Ratcliffe (Aus), G Manson (Aut), G Brand (Eng), M Kuramoto (Jpn), G Ryall (Eng), L Carbonetti (Arg), M Harwood (Aus) ,

73 J Rivero (Esp), A Sherborne (Eng), G Wolstenholme (Eng), R Gibson (Can), C Williams (RSA), A Oldcorn (Sco), J Gould (Eng), J Bruner (USA), P Linhart (Esp), N Job (Eng), D O’Sullivan (Irl), M Farry (Fra), J Harrison (Eng) ,

74 Z Martinez (USA), S Brown (Eng), M Cunning (USA), G Banister (Aus), J Lindberg (Swe), C Rocca (Ita), P Mitchell (Eng), C Mason (Eng), M Piñero (Esp), R Drummond (Sco) ,

75 D Smyth (Irl), G Norquist (USA) ,

76 M James (Eng), J Carriles (Esp), D Durnian (Eng), J Laforce (Can), W Grant (Eng), D Hospital (Esp) ,

77 K Spurgeon (Eng), T Elliott (Aus) ,

78 S Cipa (Eng) ,

79 T Giedeon (Ger), D James (Sco) ,

82 H Francis (Eng)