 Montgomerie was presented with a commemorative ice bucket
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Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie shared the first-day lead midway through round one of the Andalucia Open, his 500th European Tour event.
The 45-year-old, now ranked 137th in the world, carded four birdies in his first six holes and despite a bogey after finding the water, shot a 67.
Joining him at five-under in Seville were fellow Scot Steven O'Hara and Frenchman Jean-Francois Lucquin.
"It was a nostalgic day, thinking about all sorts of things," Montgomerie said.
Montgomerie is the 18th player to reach 500 tournaments and boasts an impressive 182 top-10 finishes.
The last of those was when he finished runner-up to Pablo Larrazabal at the French Open last June but he said: "I'd like to get to 200. I'm busier than ever, but I'm still competitive enough to be able to contend."
Montgomerie, who started his round at the 10th, was in good touch with the belly putter after his watery six at the 16th, holing from 15 and 30 feet on the 18th and first for birdies and adding an 18-footer for a par at the second.
Asked what he was thinking about during his round he said: "My three PGA wins, eight Order of Merits, how far I've walked [all the way to Hong Kong] and being Ryder Cup captain.
"I've thought about that every minute of every day since I was appointed. People say that being captain will hurt my game, but I think exactly the opposite. I've been looking for ways to relax on the course and I think I've found it.
"That's three tournaments in a row with a 67. Things are looking up."
Another Tour stalwart, Miguel Angel Jimenez, also aged 45, did not fare so well, carding three successive bogeys in a round of 74, while compatriot Jose Maria Olazabal was a later starter.
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