MADRID: Paul Broadhurst, Marcus Fraser and Magnus A Carlsson all hit four under par 67s to share the lead at the Madrid Masters on Thursday but comeback king Jose Maria Olazabal was within reach at one under.

The leaders ended the first day at the Club de Campo Villa a shot better off than a group of five including home player Pablo Larrazabal, who compiled a three under 68. Spanish star Olazabal, a former double Masters champion who is making a third return to the tour after a series of injury and illness set-backs, shot a commendable 70, three shots off the pace.

The 42-year-old birdied his first hole and was two under at the turn on the back of birdies at 16 and 17 making up for a dropped shot on the 14th. He picked up another birdie on the way back in before two more bogeys put the brakes on his push.

“It went a lot better than I had hoped,” said Olazabal who was number two to European skipper Nick Faldo at last month’s Ryder Cup.

“I hit some balls into the trees, but generally speaking I’m happy with my score today. Who would believe that after so much time out of competition I make a birdie to start?”

Before this week, Olazabal had not played a competitive round since June, when he narrowly missed out on qualification for The Open. That was less than three months after resuming competition, having been out since the previous August.

Olazabal has also suffered rheumatism since 1995, and the medication for the condition is thought to be the cause of his fatigue. Broadhurst started at the tenth and he picked up shots at the 15th and 18th on the way out. He then birdied the short par three third and the 518-yard fourth.

Back-to-back bogeys at the fifth and sixth dropped the Englishman back but he birdied the seventh and par three ninth to go four under. “I just stuck in there really and had to make a couple of miracle shots to keep it ticking over,” said Broadhurst.

“I had a couple of very poor tee shots on five and six but came back with another couple of birdies at the end and it’s nice to finish four under,” he added.Carlsson had a bogey and two birdies on his front nine. But he didn’t drop a single shot on the way in and the Swede birdied the par five 14th.

“The last few weeks I’ve been working a lot on my game and have started believing in myself,” he said. Fraser had a bogey-free round, the Australian posting birdies at the fourth, eighth, 14th and par three 17th.