Selfridge laid low by tendinitis

Victor Riu of France. Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images

Moyola Park’s Chris Selfridge suffered a recurrence of his recent tendinitis problems and retired midway through the opening round of the Andalucía Costa del Sol Match Play 9.

“I’ve been fighting it last few weeks,” said Selfridge, who revealed that an attempt to hack out of a bush caused his wrist "to flare up massively." 

“I’ll be taking few weeks off now to recover properly then come back mid-June hopefully.”

It was an average day all round for the Irish with Cormac Sharvin tied 42nd and the best of the bunch with a one under 70 that was marred by a triple bogey seven at the 16th.

Ruaidhri McGee’s level par 71 was good enough to share 65th behind Victor Riu, whose career-best, 10 under par 61 gave him a two-shot lead at La Cala Resort.

Gavin Moynihan (72), Dermot McElroy (74), Kevin Phelan (78) and Rory McNamara (78) have work to to to make the cut

"It was a really good day," Riu said. "Everything was really nice and it was really special to produce the best score of my career here.

"Coming into this week my long game had been really good but I was struggling a lot with my putting. I worked really hard on my putting over the weekend and it felt as though the hard work was worth it.

"I was also really happy today because my wedge game was also really strong. The course here is tricky and the pins were very difficult. My wedges are normally not the best part of my game but I used them really well today.

"When I realised I was ten under after 15 holes I did have a slight think about the 59, but I just tried to take things shot by shot and not worry too much about the scoring – I am still really happy to have been ten under today."

While pleased with the outstanding start he has made on the Spanish coast, Riu is aware that it will be all to play for at the weekend,“ where the top 32 players will fight it out in a series of nine-hole match play contests.

"It is really exciting to play in this tournament," he said. "You do not get too many opportunities as a professional to play match play events, except the Ryder Cup.

"I always really enjoyed playing in one-on-one matches as an amateur, and although that was more than ten years ago I think it will suit me.

"I have made a really good start today, so I should hopefully make it through to the weekend!"

Two adrift of Riu is England's Charlie Ford, who made two eagles and four birdies on his way to signing for an eight under par round of 63.

Two further back on six under par is Germany's Julian Kunzenbacher, who finished second on the satellite Pro Golf Tour's Order of Merit last season.

South Africa's Christiaan Bezuidenhout celebrated his 23rd birthday in style, carding a three under par round of 68 to sit inside the top 15 after the first round in Andaluci­a.

Scores after Round One:

61 V Riu (Fra), 

63 C Ford (Eng), 

65 J Kunzenbacher (Ger), 

66 M Lafeber (Ned), H Casey (Eng), V Perez (Fra), 

67 S Hutsby (Eng), A Rai (Eng), P Kopp (Ger), P Howard (Eng), J Doherty (Sco), P Martin Benavides (Esp), 

68 C Bezuidenhout (RSA), R Sciot-Siegrist (Fra), J Barnes (Eng), E Van Rooyen (RSA), M Schneider (Ger), E Cuartero Blanco (Esp), J Zunic (Aus), S Hodgson (Eng), M Tullo (Chi), J Girrbach (Sui), K Samooja (Fin), B Ã…kesson (Swe), C Sordet (Fra), B Hafthorsson (Isl), 

69 M Trappel (Aut), T Murray (Eng), J Harrison (Eng), D Dixon (Eng), B Hemstock (Eng), J Makitalo (Fin), J Sarasti (Esp), O Rozner (Fra), S Fernandez (Esp), R Davies (Wal), S Tarrio Ben (Esp), R Hjelm (Den), B Eccles (Aus), C Del Moral (Esp), N Geyger (Chi), 

70 M Madsen (Den), K Johannessen (Nor), B Neil (Sco), G Woolgar (Eng), T Santos Silva (Por), T Lawrence (RSA), T Ferrer (Esp), L Vaisanen (Fin), C Sharvin (Nir), J Sjöholm (Swe), R Enoch (Wal), P Whiteford (Sco), P Tarver-Jones (Eng), J Garcia Pinto (Esp), C Mivis (Bel), M Laskey (Wal), M Kinhult (Swe), N Møller (Den), R Kellett (Sco), J Brun (Fra), N Marsh (Eng), C Braeunig (Ger), R McIntyre (am) (Sco), 

71 M Cort (Eng), O Lindell (Fin), R McGee (Irl), J Wrisdale (Eng), A Wennstam (Swe), K Eriksson (Swe), D Law (Sco), F Daux (Fra), O Suhr (Den), S Brown (Eng), F Mruzek (Cze), J Adarraga Gomez (Esp), M Quiros (Esp), B Etchart (Esp), E Dubois (Fra), M Baldwin (Eng), A Garcia-Heredia (Esp), E Goya (Arg), G Canizares (Esp), D Foos (Ger), 

72 T Shadbolt (Eng), M Kramer (Ger), K Hesbois (Bel), J Senior (Eng), B Paolini (USA), M Haastrup (Den), G Moynihan (Irl), M Galiano Aguilar (Esp), A Meronk (Pol), E Ferguson (Sco), S Arnold (Aus), R McCarthy (Aus), D Borda (Esp), D Berna Manzanares (Esp), D Van Driel (Ned), 

73 P Dedek (Cze), B Poke (Den), D Gaunt (Aus), N Lindstrom (Swe), M Fenasse (Fra), A Bernadet (Fra), J Garcia Del Moral (Esp), J Pastor (Esp), I Cantero Gutierrez (Esp), V Østerby (Den), R Evans (Eng), S Connor (Eng), 

74 H Joannes (Bel), J Lorca (Esp), D McElroy (Nir), C Bull (Eng), G Forrest (Sco), C Aronsen (Nor), J McLeary (Sco), J Glennemo (Swe), N Grau Tomas (Esp), W Besseling (Ned), T Tree (Eng), R Santos (Por), B Rusch (Sui), S Jeppesen (Swe), 

75 M Ovesen (Den), F Perez Martin (Esp), B Hellgren (Swe), S Gutierrez (Esp), D Osorio (Esp), 

76 M Lampert (Ger), C Koepka (USA), T Pulkkanen (Fin), M Simonsen (Den), P Oriol (Esp), C Griffiths (Eng), P Relecom (Bel), J Carlota (Por), 

77 J Fernandez Gomez (Esp), J Allan (Eng), 

78 P Mejow (Ger), K Phelan (Irl), R McNamara (Irl), A Schwartz (Fra), C Blomstrand (Swe), 

79 B Robinson (Eng), S Akarsu (Tur), 

80 P Eriksson (Swe), M Pastor (Esp), L Galliano (Sui), 

81 R Van Der Spuy (RSA), S Benson (Eng), 

85 K Varli (Tur), 

** N Thommen (Sui), C Selfridge (Nir), M Sogaard (Den).