SCOTS SHARE IN LOW-SCORING BONANZA ON CHALLENGE TOUR

FROM EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
After an opening day of prodigiously low scoring, it was 39 year old Francis McGuirk and a man 19 years his junior in Adrian Otaegui who came out on top after shooting magnificent rounds of eight-under-par 64 to shared the lead at the D+D Real Czech Challenge Open.

In what was a day for the ages, Englishman McGuirk and Spaniard Otaegui sparkled as the assembled field put Golf and Spa Kunetická Hora - a course of some 7,300yd - to the sword in benign conditions, with 94 players shooting level par or better.

Of the Scots in the field, only Gavin Dear from Noahs Ark, Perth failed to score par or less. He had a 75 and is back in a share of 119th place.

Andrew McArthur, Raymond Russell and Jack Doherty led the Scots with five-under-par 67s for a share of 11th place.

Duncan Stewart had a 68 for a share of 24th place.

Ross Kellett scored a 69 for joint 34th spot.

Steven O'Hara and Jamie McLeary were both on the 70 mark for joint 45th postion.

Wallace Booth matched the par of 72 and is joint 79th.

Within one of the lead following the initial exchanges are South Korea’s Sihwan Kim and Spaniard Carlos Aguilar, both of whom shot excellent rounds of 65, while a pack of six players lie a further shot back.

After starting on the back nine, Otaegui found birdies at the long 11^th and par four 14^th while a hat-trick before the turn – including a 35 foot birdie putt at the short 17^th – saw the 20 year old San Sebastian native reach five under par.

Another gain followed at the long second before his only dropped shot of the day came at the third, where the former amateur star failed to get up and down from the dense rough to the right of the green.

Unfazed, he bounced back with another trio of birdies – at the fifth, where he holed a birdie putt from all of 50 feet, long seventh and short eighth holes – to complete a stunning round and capture a share of the first round lead.

“I played well from tee to green and made quite a few long putts which is always pleasing,” said Otaegui, who was mentored growing up by triumphant 2012 Ryder Cup Captain José María Olazábal.

“But my game was good in general and I’m obviously very happy with making such a great start.”

He continued: “The only thing I want is to learn every week and keep improving every week and I just need to be patient.  It is still very early so I’m looking at the bigger picture, the next few years.

“I’ve played a lot in the winter in recent years with (Olazábal) and I learn so much from him; both in terms of his golf but also the way he carries himself and the ambiance around him. He’s special and has helped me a lot.”

McGuirk, meanwhile, was flawless in his eight under par 64 in what was an exemplary all-round performance in the afternoon session.

After starting with four pars from the tenth, the Sutton man holed a 25-foot birdie putt at the par four 14^th to kick-start his round and rarely looked back as he reined in the young Spaniard.

“You could say it might’ve been better but when you hole a couple of 25-footers they are always a bonus,” said McGuirk, who also lipped out for birdie on a number of holes on Thursday.
“But I’m always going to take eight under. It’s definitely up there with my best rounds; I actually think it might be my lowest tournament round so I’m thrilled of course.”

Elsewhere, American Brooks Koepka, who. thanks to two Challenge Tour victories in the last six weeks, would secure instant promotion to The European Tour were he to triumph in the Czech Republic, started with a two under par 70 – only good enough for a share of 45^th after what was truly a day of extraordinary scoring.

 

ALL THE FIRST-ROUND SCORES

Par 72

64 A Otaegui  (Esp) , F McGuirk  (Eng) 

65 C Aguilar  (Esp) , S Kim (SKor) 

66 A Gee  (Eng) , M Ford (Eng) , L Bjerregaard  (Den) , A Domingo (Esp) , N Ravano (Ita) , C Gane (Eng) 

67 G Houston (Wal) , O Farr (Wal) , T Murray (Eng) , R Russell (Sco) , P Oriol (Esp) , J Guerrier  (Fra) , D Frittelli (RSA) , M Haines  (Eng) , A McArthur  (Sco) , B Parker  (Eng) , C Russo (Fra) , F Calmels  (Fra) , J Doherty  (Sco) 

68 J Fahrbring (Swe) , B Hebert  (Fra) , N Elvira  (Esp) , J Watts (Eng) , D Ulrich (Sui) , D Stewart (Sco) , A Pavan (Ita) , B An (SKor) , R Dinwiddie  (Eng) , J Lando Casanova  (Fra) 

69 J Lima  (Por) , B Ritthammer (Ger) , L Kennedy  (Eng) , C Devlin (Nir) , R Kellett (Sco) , O Lieser (Cze) , L Corfield  (Eng) , M Lorenzo-Vera  (Fra) , B Hafthorsson (Isl) , O Rozner  (Fra) , G Shaw (Nir) 

70 T Fournier  (Fra) , L Richard (Bel) , J Heath  (Eng) , N Quintarelli (Ita) , A Bossert (Sui) , B Koepka  (USA) , S Fallon (Eng) , T Pulkkanen  (Fin) , J McLeary  (Sco) , T Remkes (Ned) , M Crespi  (Ita) , J Dantorp (Swe) , S Tiley (Eng) , S O'Hara  (Sco) , S Matus  (Cze) 

71 F Praegant (Aut) , M Sell  (Eng) , G Cambis  (Fra) , L Claverie (Esp), A Garcia-Heredia (Esp), F De Vries  (Ned) , N Floren (Swe) , S Davis (Eng) , H Bacher (Aut) , W Besseling  (Ned) , N Kearney (Irl) , C Brazillier  (Fra) , M Haastrup  (Den) , J Mikkelsen (Nor) , N Meitinger  (Ger) , C Hanson (Eng) , L Tintera  (Cze) , N Lemke (Swe) , S Walker (Eng) 

72 A Bernadet  (Fra) , R Hjelm (Den) , W Booth  (Sco) , F Colombo (Ita) , J Abbott (Eng) , S Manley (Wal) , L Weber (Fra) , K Borsheim  (Nor) , F Bergamaschi (Ita) , J Mommo  (Fin) , A Johansson (Swe) , I Korvenmaa (Fin) , J Senior (Eng) , M Trappel  (Aut) , C Suneson (Esp) , G Piris Mateu (Esp) 

73 D Geminiani (Ita) , J Hepworth (Eng) , B Hemstock (Eng) , C Aronsen  (Nor) , D Griffiths  (Eng) , J Ruth  (Eng) , J Bragulat  (Esp) , R Schovanek (Cze) , S Garcia Rodriguez (Esp) , F Svanberg  (Sui) 

74 P Dwyer (Eng) , S Whiffin (Eng) , B Chapellan (Fra) , P Maddy (Eng) , A Hansen  (Den) , F Laporta (Ita) , O Wilson (Eng) , J Winer (Eng) , A Rota (Ita) , D Wuensche  (Ger) , T Nørret (Den) , P Relecom  (Bel) , J Clément  (Sui) , Š Zach (am) (Cze) 

75 J Wahlqvist (Swe) , R Nechanicky (Cze) , G Dear (Sco) , N Dougherty  (Eng) , X Ruiz Fonhof  (Ned) , M Novy  (Cze) , J Whitehouse (Aus) , J Moul  (Eng) , M McGeady (Irl) , R Hahn (Hun) , J Carlsson (Swe) , D Suchan (am) (Cze) 

76 S Jeppesen  (Swe) , C Ford (Eng) , A Ahokas (Fin) , J Lerchedahl (Den) , P Svajlen (Svk) , Z Scotland  (Eng) , D Perrier (Fra) 

77 W Wray (Eng) , J Pastor Lopez (Esp) , J Gibb (Eng) , J Huldahl (Den) , M Haremza (Ger) , F Juhaniak (Cze) 

78 P Nic (Cze) , A Engell  (Nor) , F Mruzek (Cze) 

79 P Edberg (Swe) , J Bares (am) (Cze)

80 J Stryncl (Cze) , D Zelinka (am) (Cze) 

81 L Lizanek (Cze) 

82 J Krejcar (Cze) , M Veijalainen (Fin) 

83 A Rajmont (am) (Cze) 

86 P Dedek (am) (Cze)