Spain opened up a one-shot lead on day one of the ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf as Rafa Cabrera Bello and Jon Rahm recorded a 69 on a day of tough scoring at Kingston Heath Golf Club.
With the wind making life difficult in Melbourne, birdies were at a premium in the opening foursomes as the World Cup returned to the calendar for the first time since 2013.
A second birdie of the day on the last combined with an eagle, another birdie and a bogey got the Spaniards to three under, a shot clear of China, France and the United States as European Tour Members dominated the upper echelons of the leaderboard.
England and Italy were then at one under heading into Friday's first set of fourballs, after a day when just six of the 28 teams finished under par.
Cabrera Bello had not missed a cut all season in 2016 but was still searching for a first win while Rahm was just starting out in his professional career after joining the paid ranks following the US Open this summer.
Spain are the fourth most successful country in World Cup history with four wins but were searching for their first victory since 1984.
China, France and the United States had all set the target at two under and it looked like a round in the 60s would be out of reach before Cabrera Bello saw a 15-footer drop on the 18th after looking like it would stay up.
The duo had bogeyed the fourth but a brilliant Rahm approach to the eighth allowed Cabrera Bello to sink the only successful eagle putt of the day before another birdie followed on the 12th.
"It was a fun putt," said Cabrera Bello of the last. "When I was seeing it, it looked like it couldn't miss and then all of a sudden it really missed and I don't know how it came back and went in.
It's a score we're proud of and also a score we deserve - Rafa Cabrera Bello
"It's been a fun day, we played well. It was tough and tricky with the wind but Jon played great, I rolled some putts and hit some good shots as well. It's a score we're proud of and also a score we deserve."
"We're playing foursomes in this kind of weather in this part of the world and on this kind of course, it's a little tricky to what I'm used to playing in the States," added Rahm.
"Obviously we planned a strategy which had me hitting more tee-shots. He hit a couple of great shots, rolled some putts in and that's pretty much what we needed. It wasn't so much about hitting great shots, it was about avoiding mistakes and we did that perfectly."
The French duo of Victor Dubuisson and Romain Langasque opened with a birdie as Langasque put the approach to tap-in range and another birdie followed on the ninth as the 2016 Challenge Tour graduate once again gave Dubuisson an easy putt.
Another birdie on the tenth had them three under but a bogey-bogey run on the 11th and 12th set them back before an excellent approach to the 15th set up a fourth birdie of the day.
China's Ashun Wu and Li Haotong - both winners on the European Tour this season - were level par stood on the 16th tee after three birdies and three bogeys but two birdies in the final three holes, including an excellent putt from Wu on the last, saw them sign for a 70.
Jimmy Walker holed a bunker shot on the 13th to spark a run of three birdies with Rickie Fowler but the Americans dropped a shot on the 16th.
Francesco Molinari and Matteo Manassero of Italy were derailed by a triple-bogey on the 12th as they signed for four birdies, while Englishmen Andy Sullivan and Chris Wood double-bogeyed the same hole en route to their 71.
Denmark, Ireland and Sweden were then at level par, a shot clear of Austria, Belgium, Thailand and Japan.
