JC Ritchie carded a six-under-par 66 on Tuesday in the first round of the Challenge Tour’s Challenge de España at Iberostar Real Club de Golf Novo Sancti Petri in Cadiz, Spain to take up a share of third place.

The Cape Town Open champion opened with a bogey, but he responded immediately with an eagle-three on the second hole. After that, he was flawless, picking up five more birdies as he ended the day two strokes behind the leader Lucas Vacarisas of Spain, who had a front nine of six-under 30 on his way to his 64. Vacarisas led by one from Conor Purcell of Ireland, and Ritchie shared third with four other players.

Jacques Blaauw opened with a four-under 68, and Jayden Schaper went three-under in his first round. Oliver Bekker was two-under, and Jacques Kruyswijk and Bryce Easton each carded level-par 72s.