Not many golfers hug their caddie halfway through an event, but for Ignacio Garrido it was perfectly understandable.

"Probably the best I've ever played. This is a dream," said Garrido after following up a first-round 66 with a course record 63 yesterday to lead the Spanish Open in Seville by four shots. "I think for any player the most important tournament after the majors is your own national championship."

Now he has a golden opportunity to join a list of winners that includes his father, Antonio, in 1972, just 19 days after Ignacio was born.

Swede Martin Erlandsson lies second, while last week's winner, Darren Clarke, is 12 behind on three under, but former Open champion John Daly crashed out at one over.

Steven O'Hara (70) leads the Scottish challenge on 138, one stroke ahead of fellow-Scots Stephen Gallacher (69) and Gary Orr (68). Peter Whiteford shot a 72 for 140, while Alan McLean (71) joined Colin Montgomerie (73) on the final qualifying mark of 143.

Amazingly, 36-year-old Garrido had missed the cut on six of his previous seven starts this season and he has been very much a fringe figure since beating the current Masters champion, Trevor Immelman, in a play-off for the PGA Championship in 2003.

The five-year Tour exemption that triumph earned him runs out at the end of this season. He is 125th on the money list and only the top 115 keep their cards, but total happiness is just two rounds away. "I thought I could not play any better than yesterday, but obviously I could," he added after his nine-birdie display.

Daly had three birdies and then an eagle in his last eight holes, but that came after he had slumped to five over and it was too little, too late.

Now 595th in the world after making it through to the end of just two events in 10 starts this year, Daly then voiced his unhappiness about events on the super-fast 17th hole on the first day. "I hear they stopped play and syringed the green after we went through; that's not right," said the American, who had bogeyed it just after Thomas Levet had four-putted.

But the tournament director, Miguel Vidaor, was adamant that no such action was taken. "It's not true; who's made that up? Yes it got very fast and very difficult, but it was by no means unplayable."