Martin Kaymer, one of the few golfers in the world who knows what it is like to score 59, sparkled again on Thursday when he began the Portugal Masters in Vilamoura with an 11-under-par 61. The 22-year-old German rookie left the rest of the star-studded field trailing in his wake by equalling the lowest round of the European Tour season and clipping two strokes off the Oceanico Victoria Club&aposs course record. Kaymer leads by three from Argentine Daniel Vancsik and Swede Martin Erlandsson, with Lee Westwood and Retief Goosen in the group four back. Terry Price and Brett Rumford were the best of the Australians, carding a five-under-par 67 but with Kaymer in such brilliant form the pair is six shots off the pace. It was in a mini-tour event in his home country in June last year that Kaymer fired his 59, holing an 18-foot putt on the final green to add to 11 other birdies, an eagle and even a bogey. Kaymer missed six of his first seven halfway cuts on entering the main circuit this season, but since then has posted second and third place finishes and stands 54th on the money list. Now he has a chance to almost double that and move into the top 20 after finishing his day&aposs work with five successive birdies for an inward 29. “The weather was perfect and I was waiting for this day for a couple of weeks,” he said. “I&aposve been playing really good, but my putting was so-so. Today every putt went in.” First round of the Portugal Masters: -11 Martin Kaymer 61 -8 Martin Erlandsson 64, Daniel Vancsik 64 -7 Gregory Bourdy 65, Retief Goosen 65, Lee Westwood 65 -6 Fredrik Andersson Hed 66, Ariel Canete 66, Emanuele Canonica 66, Nick Dougherty 66, Jean-Francois Lucquin 66, Andrew McLardy 66, Francesco Molinari 66, Alvaro Quiros 66, Charl Schwartzel 66, Sam Walker 66, Steve Webster 66 Also: -5 Terry Price (Australia) 67, Brett Rumford (Australia) 67 -1 Peter O Malley (Australia) 71 +1 Marcus Fraser (Australia) 73 +2 Matthew Millar (Australia) 74