Kjeldsen back to form in Castellon Masters

(CNN) -- Soren Kjeldsen shot a seven-under-par 64 to lead by one shot after the first day of the Castellon Masters -- and afterwards revealed he was glad to be back in form after the disappointment of missing out on a place in the European Ryder Cup team.

The Dane had his heart set on making Nick Faldo's team and claims his game suffered as a result of his failure to do so. The 33-year-old tied for 30th at the British Masters in September then finished a disappointing 13-over-par for joint 131st at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland last month.

Last week he tied for 16th at the Portugal Masters to signal an upturn in fortunes, and he improved even further with an impressive round in Spain.

"For me it was sort of a post-mortem Ryder Cup thing," said Kjeldsen. "I desperately wanted to get on the team but I didn't make it and it knocked me a bit. It took me a while to get things into perspective and get on with it."

Kjeldsen added: "It was a very solid round. I'm hitting it pretty straight especially with my short irons. My plan is just to keep playing the same and trust in myself. There is a long way to go but today was a great start."

Englishman Richard Finch, Spaniard Ignacio Garrido, Argentinian Angel Cabrera and Swede Peter Hanson are one shot back on six-under, while seven players, including Spanish pair Sergio Garcia and Jose Maria Olazabal, are five-under after rounds of 66.

Tournament favourite Garcia, who is hosting the event at the club he played as a boy and where his father is still the professional, closed his round with three successive birdies.

"Scoring-wise it was good but I know I need to play a little better," said Garcia. "It feels good playing at home this week. It's good fun. There has been a lot of build-up to it and it's finally here and I was a little nervous this morning."