MARBELLA, Spain -- Lee Westwood shot a 7-under 65 Thursday to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Andalucia Open on the European Tour.

The event's defending champion sank an 18-foot birdie putt on the first hole and then picked up five more birdies through the 10th at the Aloha Golf Club.

"I didn't make too many mistakes and my course management was good," Westwood said. "I've got one eye on the Masters ... and nothing beats winning for confidence."

Danny Willett and Jan-Are Larsen were tied for second at 66.

Willett, a top-ranked amateur from England who received an invitation to play, had two eagles in his first seven holes. He opened on the back nine and eagled the 10th, and then hit a 4-iron to three feet on the 16th.

"I was quite nervous for my first European Tour event," the 20-year-old son of a clergyman said. "The eagle took a lot of first-hole nerves away and relieved the pressure."

Matthew Millar (67) was two strokes behind in fourth, and five players were tied at 68, including teenager Rory McIlroy, who played in the afternoon when the wind was much stronger.

It was a good day too, for, two-time Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal, who was making his return to competition after seven months out battling rheumatic pains. Worried for his future at the end of last year, the double Masters champion returned a 71 that he claimed was "better than I expected."

Westwood did not register a bogey after deciding to fly back from America to defend the title and then return across the Atlantic for the Masters in two weeks' time. He began and finished with 18-foot putts and had five more birdies in between.

Course management was key, just as it will be at Augusta.

"I've always been pretty good at that," Westwood said. "It's common sense really -- but nobody ever said that everybody on the European Tour had common sense.

Westwood was back playing with his Ryder Cup partner Darren Clarke, but the Ulsterman mixed an eagle and three birdies with four bogeys and a double bogey. That added up to a 1-over 73, and Clarke revealed afterward that he had blisters on both feet caused by a pair of new shoes.

"Don't call me stupid because I know I'm stupid," he said. "I played like a part-time professional and part-time 10-handicapper."

Willett has a plus-5 handicap, is the reigning English Amateur champion, was a Walker Cup teammate of McIlroy last September, and his recent win in the Spanish Amateur took him to the top of the world amateur rankings.

"I proved to myself I can play a professional golf course and play well," he said.

Almost a year ago in Portugal, Spaniard Pablo Martin, then a standout at Oklahoma State, became the first amateur ever to win on the European Tour. So does Willett think he can emulate him?

"I was joking about it before coming here," he said. "You never know -- it's always in the back of your mind, but you can't think about it on the course."

Willett has his fireman brother Matthew as his caddie and when asked if his father, a vicar at Christ Church in Hackenthorpe, ever carried his bag he replied: "He used to, but he stopped after telling me to hit through some trees. I took about 10."

His second eagle came on the 526-yard 16th courtesy of a 4-iron to three feet, and he was alongside Westwood on 7 under before pushing his last tee shot behind a tree and bogeying.

McIlroy, whom Willett beat in the second round of the British Amateur last June, was happy to show some form again after three successive missed cuts in Dubai, Malaysia and South Korea.

On his recent lean spell, he said: "I knew I was close and that it was only a matter of time before I started producing the scores.

"I'm not surprised Danny's up there," he added. "I practiced with him on Tuesday and from 130 yards in he was stiffing it. Maybe he can do a Pablo."

Welshman Bradley Dredge, who needs to win on Sunday to climb into the world's top 50 and grab a spot in The Masters, shot 70, while Swede Peter Hanson, who has the same target, had to settle for a level-par 72.

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