MADSEN IS GREAT DANE IN ALLIANZ WITH A 65
MEDIA RELEASE FROM EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Morten Orum Madsen led the way after the opening
round of the ALLIANZ Open de Lyon as a six under
par 65 put the Dane in the driving seat for a first
European Challenge Tour title at Golf de Gouverneur.
Morten Orum Madsen led the way after the opening
round of the ALLIANZ Open de Lyon as a six under
par 65 put the Dane in the driving seat for a first
European Challenge Tour title at Golf de Gouverneur.
Madsen’s
extremely consistent form this year, particularly in the last month -
recording four top 15 finishes in his last five tournaments - has left
him in 14th place in the Challenge Tour
Rankings and a win this week would guarantee him a Rookie season on The
European Tour in 2013.
The
former Danish Amateur Champion got off to the perfect start at the
fourth-last tournament of the season despite dropping a shot on the
third hole, atoning in style with four consecutive
birdies from the fifth hole.
Madsen’s
putter was on fire and after a birdie at the par three 11th, he holed
an important 12-foot putt for par at the 12th to maintain his momentum
before further birdies at the 13th and 15th
moved him one shot clear of the chasing pack.
“I
played really well,” said the 24 year old. “I hit a bad shot for that
bogey at the third but after that it was really good - I played some
nice shots and putted really well.
“I
made a lot of putts from 10 to 15 feet but I hit it close a lot too and
when I missed the greens my chip shots were to tap-in range so it was
nice not to have to work too hard. It was just
really solid overall.
“I
took last week off to rest up after Russia and Kazakhstan. It was nice
to do some practice and hang out at home with friends and get ready for
this four week stretch so I felt re-energised
and ready to go.”
Madsen
and his Danish counter-parts were all given a boost this week when it
was announced that the penultimate tournament of the season has been
moved to Copenhagen after a drought in Italy
forced the relocation of the event, now titled the Crowne Plaza
Copenhagen Challenge hosted by Royal Golf Club.
Now
he is looking to finish strongly and earn the best category possible
for next season’s Race to Dubai, starting with a good result in Lyon.
“It
was exciting news to know we’ll go back in play in front of a home
crowd,” he said. “I actually haven’t played the course but my caddie
lives five minutes away and knows it really well.
It should be a good week and a good event.
“I'm
trying to get into the top ten in the Rankings but you have to play
really well. There are a bunch of good players up there so there will be
no free passes. I feel like my game is shaping
up nicely so hopefully I can make a run at it.
“Obviously
I was hoping to have a win by now on the Challenge Tour but I'm just
happy with how I've played this season. I've had my ups and downs and
learned my lessons but if I don’t get a
win, I've played good golf so I'm not going to be too unhappy.”
There
were five players in tied second place on six under par - Sweden’s
Bjorn Åkesson, Frenchman Baptiste Chapellan, Australian Daniel Gaunt,
José-Filipe Lima of Portugal and England’s Eddie
Pepperell.
French
amateurs Clement Berardo and Romain Langasque were amongst the players a
shot further back on four under par and they will be hoping to follow
in the footsteps of compatriot Julien Brun,
who became the sixth amateur player to win on the Challenge Tour at the
ALLIANZ Golf Open Toulouse Metropole two weeks ago.
FIRST ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 71
65 M Madsen (Den)
66 B Åkesson (Swe) , J Lima (Por) , E Pepperell (Eng) , B Chapellan (Fra) , D Gaunt (Aus)
67 L Saltman (Sco) , S Jeppesen (Swe) , J Lagergren (Swe) , P Archer (Eng) , R Langasque (am) (Fra) , C Berardo (am) (Fra)
68 A Otaegui (Esp) , R Russell (Sco) ,
E De La Riva (Esp) , E Dubois (Fra) , M Southgate (Eng) , M
Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) , N Meitinger (Ger) , M Crespi (Ita) , S Buhl
(Ger) , S Wakefield (Eng) , S Tiley (Eng) , B Ritthammer (Ger) , A
Domingo (Esp) , C Brazillier (Fra)
69 F Praegant (Aut) , A Bernadet (Fra)
, J Guerrier (Fra) , K Le Sager (Fra) , S Hutsby (Eng) , J Parry
(Eng) , S O'Hara (Sco) , M Tullo (Chi) , G Stal (Fra) , T Sluiter
(Ned) , V Riu (Fra) , J Garcia Pinto (Esp) , F Calmels (Fra)
, C Russo (Fra)
70 C Lloyd (Eng) , J Abbott (Eng) , R
Echenique (Arg) , A Levy (Fra) , J Grillon (Fra) , Å Nilsson (Swe) , W
Besseling (Ned) , C Doak (Sco) , C Paisley (Eng) , A Tadini (Ita) , A
Johnston (Eng)
71 J Busby (Eng) , S Pinckney (USA) , D
Brooks (Eng) , D Antonelli (Fra) , L Kennedy (Eng) , B Koepka (USA) ,
S Gros (Fra) , S Piaget (Mon) , B An (Kor) , N Henriques (Por) , L
Goddard (Eng) , C Aguilar (Esp) , P Dwyer (Eng) , D Perrier
(Fra) , A Tampion (Aus) , X Puig (Esp) , J Hansen (Den) , J Huldahl
(Den) , C Gallois (Fra)
72 P Fendt (Aut) , M Nixon (Eng) , A
Snobeck (Fra) , L Jensen (Den) , A Kaleka (Fra) , J Walters (RSA) , S
Henry (Sco) , B Pastore (Ita) , S Kim (Kor) , J Russell (USA) , P
Edberg (Swe) , C Gane (Eng) , V Guillaume (Fra) , A Perrino
(Ita) , R Neil-Jones (Eng) , T Remkes (Ned) , R Quiros (Esp) , L Weber
(am) (Fra)
73 S Davis (Eng) , J Remesy (Fra) , N
Dougherty (Eng) , J Lando Casanova (Fra) , R Dinwiddie (Eng) , D
Vancsik (Arg) , J Billot (Fra) , I Sanchez-Palencia (Esp) , A McArthur
(Sco) , S Benson (Eng) , J Gibb (Eng) , A Campanile (Ita)
, C Ford (Eng)
74 J Lopez Lazaro (Fra) , F
Delamontagne (Fra) , A Velasco (Esp) , J Belot-Lacroix (Fra) , J
Wahlqvist (Swe) , A Gee (Eng) , M Hill (Fra) , R Schneider (Fra) , R
Wingardh (Swe) ,
75 D Nouailhac (Fra) , B Barham (Eng) , A Parr (Can) , P Relecom (Bel) , R Kakko (Fin)
76 L Richard (Bel) , P Valmary (Fra) , R Dupuis (Fra)
79 A Guerin (Fra)
80 R Thuillier (Fra) ,
Labels: CHALLENGE TOUR
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