P – Veteran Australian golfer Robert Allenby has produced one his best rounds of an otherwise disappointing year to be right in the mix at the KLM Open in the Netherlands.

Allenby, who made just five cuts in 24 events on the 2013 US PGA Tour, carded a five-under-par 65 to trail Spanish first-round leader Miguel Angel Jimenez by just a shot.

Nearly two decades after winning the European PGA’s Dutch event, Jiminez took advantage of relatively benign conditions to shoot a six-under 64 on Thursday.

The 1994 event champion had two bogeys and eight birdies, including holing a wedge from 40 metres at the 16th for birdie followed by another birdie on the 18th at the Kennemer Golf and Country Club.

Jimenez, the oldest player in the field at 49, said he would like to add another Spanish name to the trophy come Sunday with greats Seve Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal already on the honour roll.

“Seve’s first win on the European Tour was here in 1976, and Jose Maria also won here in 1989, so hopefully I can win here, too. That would be fantastic,” Jiminez said.

Allenby was among a group of six players one back on the North Sea coast.