McLEARY BATTLES BACK FOR SOLID 68 IN LUCERNE

CHALLENGE TOUR REPORT

FROM NEIL AHERN

nahern@europeantour.com

Jamie McLeary, pictured, overcame a difficult start to card six birdies on the way to a solid three under par 68 in the opening round of the Credit Suisse Challenge at Golf Sempachersee, near Lucerne.

The 31 year old from Edinburgh began with back to back bogeys in Switzerland but chipped in for birdie on the third hole to begin an admirable come back which included birdies at the seventh, tenth, 14^th and 17^th holes to finish the day tied for 11^th, six shots behind runaway leader Joachim B Hansen.
“I didn’t actually play the first two holes too badly,” said McLeary. “But I hung in there and made some easy birdies and holed a couple of big putts.
“I was toiling after the first two bogeys so it was nice to chip in on the third, even if was quite an easy chip. My driving isn’t great at the moment and with the rough here, it’s quite nasty.

SCOTS UNDER PAR 

“I just managed to hit the fairway on the holes I needed to and didn’t do too much else wrong."
Andrew McArthur and Callum Macaulay were amongst the players a shot further back on two under while Chris Doak finished the day on one under par.
Leader Hansen, meanwhile, described it as the best round of his Challenge Tour career as the young Dane stormed to the top of the leaderboard after the opening day thanks to a stunning nine under par round of 62.
The 21 year old carded 10 birdies, including six in a flawless front nine, as he took a four shot lead into the second day at Golf Sempachersee, ahead of his compatriot Lasse Jensen, England’s Matt Ford and his fellow country man and 2008 Ryder Cup star Oliver Wilson.

FIRST-ROUND SCORES

Par 71

62 J Hansen  (Den)

66 M Ford (Eng), L Jensen (Den) , O Wilson (Eng) 

67 C Moriarty (Irl) , A Levy (Fra) , S Wakefield (Eng) , S Tiley (Eng) , A Snobeck  (Fra) , H Joannes  (Bel) 

68 P Archer (Eng) , C Hanson (Eng) , J McLeary  (Sco) , D Ulrich (Sui) , D Vancsik (Arg) , R Steiner (Aut) , J Wahlqvist (Swe) , A Domingo (Esp) 

69 J Busby (Eng) , S Pinckney (USA) , D Brooks (Eng) , J Mommo  (Fin) , J Heath  (Eng) , C Macaulay  (Sco) , D Lokke (Den) , J Gibb (Eng) , A McArthur  (Sco) , J Mikkelsen (Nor) , D Gaunt (Aus) , F Fritsch  (Ger) , G Houston (Wal) , G Stal  (Fra) , J Clément  (Sui) , A Perrino  (Ita) , A Hartø  (Den) , M Rominger  (Sui) , E De La Riva  (Esp) , Å Nilsson (Swe) , N Meitinger  (Ger) , J Abbott (Eng) , B Rusch (am) (Sui)

70 E Bertheussen (Nor) , J Walters (RSA) , C Aguilar  (Esp) , S Garcia Rodriguez (Esp) , A Maestroni  (Ita) , S Grant  (Irl) , A Tadini (Ita) , V Riu  (Fra) , N Sulzer  (Sui) , N Lemke (Swe) , M Carlsson  (Swe) , B Parker  (Eng) , C Blaesi  (Sui) , B Evans  (Eng) , A Kaleka  (Fra) , B Chapellan (Fra) , C Doak (Sco) , N Ravano (Ita) , P Gustafsson (Swe) 

71 S Davis (Eng) , L Goddard  (Eng) , M Madsen  (Den) , B Åkesson (Swe) , P Relecom  (Bel) , M Delpodio  (Ita) , A Knappe (Ger) , F Praegant (Aut) , M Glauert (Ger) , B Ritthammer (Ger) , M Bothma (RSA) , J Parry (Eng) , N Dougherty  (Eng) , N Bertasio (Ita) , D Geminiani (Ita) , S Buhl (Ger) , P Edberg (Swe) , B Koepka  (USA) , K Benz (Sui) , T Remkes (Ned)

72 A Velasco (Esp) , J Garcia Pinto (Esp) , M Nixon (Eng) , A Bernadet  (Fra) , J Bragulat  (Esp) , A Tampion  (Aus) , P Fendt (Aut) , A Gee  (Eng) , E Kofstad (Nor) , P Karantzias (Gre) , P Baker (Eng) , M Kieffer (Ger) , R Quiros  (Esp) , J Girrbach (am) (Sui)

73 F Delamontagne  (Fra) , S Jeppesen  (Swe) , M Haines  (Eng) , F Svanberg  (Sui) , A Ahokas (Fin) , R De Sousa (Sui) , H Bacher (Aut) , J Schmid (Sui) , B Etchart  (Esp) , F McGuirk  (Eng) , A Hortal  (Esp) , I Elvira  (Esp) , J Lima  (Por) , G Watremez (Bel) , S Benson (Eng) , M Brown (Nzl) , B Barham (Eng) , E Amacher (am) (Sui) 

74 R Harrison (Eng) , R Kakko  (Fin) , R McGowan  (Eng) , G Lockerbie  (Eng) , M Higley (Eng) , W Besseling  (Ned) , J Kaske (Fin) , M Cryer (Eng) , F De Vries  (Ned) , R Dinwiddie  (Eng) , R Russell (Sco) , S Henry  (Sco) , J Barnes (Eng) , C Russo (Fra) , M Iten (am) (Sui) 

75 J Burnier (Sui) , E Pepperell (Eng) , A Parr (Can) , B Pastore (Ita) , C Gane (Eng) , J Rask (Swe) , J Huldahl (Den) , S Franky (Col) , M Crespi  (Ita) , R Echenique (Arg) , J Maurer  (Aut) , I Giner (Esp) , C Brazillier  (Fra) , M Dobias (am) (Sui)

76 P Erofejeff (Fin) , J Johnson (Eng) , U Weinhandl (Aut) , F Calmels  (Fra) , P Dwyer (Eng) , N D'Incau  (Sui) , D McKenzie (Aus) ,

77 P Gal  (Cze), T Hatton (Eng) , R Wiederkehr (Sui) , G Dear (Sco) , J Doherty  (Sco)

78 J Dantorp (Swe)

79 M Eggenberger (am) (Sui) 

91 J Svoboda (Cze)