England’s Marco Penge defies broken club to roar into lead at Open de Espana

Penge broke his pitching wedge playing out of the trees at the second hole but, after impressively saving par there and playing the first six holes in one over par, he produced an astonishing run of scoring.

Eight birdies in 10 holes, including putts of 24, 20, 17 and 16 feet and a chip-in at the 12th, left Penge to sign for a 64 that took him to 16 under par at Club de Campo.

Playing partner Joel Girrbach was his nearest challenger at a distant 12 under.

Penge’s fellow Englishman Dan Brown, on his 31st birthday, was 11 under alongside American Ryder Cup veteran Patrick Reed, with Northern Ireland’s Tom McKibbin 10 under.

Penge said: “I was just trying to go as low as I could.

“I’ve learnt in the past that when you’re leading, you can’t just…not play steady, that’s not the right word, but you’ve got to be going forward because everyone else will catch you up. It was nice to prove to myself that I can do it.”