NORWEGIAN KOFSTAD LEADS WITH A 65 IN WALES OPEN

                       

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Espen Kofstad took inspiration from his playing partner, 2014 

Ryder Cup Captain Paul McGinley, as the Norwegian stormed into 

the first round lead at the ISPS Handa Wales Open thanks to a

seven under par round of 64.

The 26 year old, who finished as the number one player on the 

Challenge Tour last year to secure his European Tour card, carded a 

stunning back nine of 29 at The Celtic Manor Resort, which 

included three birdies and an eagle in the final four holes.

On the day Kofstad joined playing partners McGinley and John 

Parry in launching the points race for The 2014 Ryder Cup, he 

finished in a style worthy of such an occasion, holing out from the 

greenside bunker at 18 to the delight of the onlooking spectators.

“It was just inspiring to be here I think,” said Kofstad. “It's Celtic 

Manor, the Ryder Cup has been here, and playing with Paul too.

“It’s just all inspiring stuff. Paul has been a really good player on 

The European Tour and it's nice to feed off his experience a little bit 

because he's a very calm, collected character and it was just a good 

group to be in this morning.

“I have been very, very calm the last two weeks. I have started 

to settle down on the European Tour a bit.

“Today I wasn't nervous and it felt really easy. I kept hitting 

the shots and they came off in the end. I got a little lucky I suppose 

holing a long putt on the 17th and the bunker shot on the last. I was 

just trying to get it ten or 15 feet past the hole because it was a 

tough shot.

“It would be great to play in the Ryder Cup, although I can't really 

expect a spot, but I put in a decent application today!”

Kofstad was two shots clear of the chasing pack, with England’s 

Chris Wood in a tie for second place on five under alongside 

Australian Richard Green, who put in the best round of the 

afternoon with a 66 in much tougher conditions.

FIRST ROUND SCORES

Par 71

64 E Kofstad (Nor) 

66 C Wood  (Eng) , R Green (Aus) 

67 G Bourdy (Fra) , T Van Der Walt (RSA) , M Foster (Eng) 

68 R Rock (Eng) , E Grillo (Arg)

69 R Coles (Eng) , M Kieffer (Ger) , S Kjeldsen (Den) , L Bond (Wal) , M Ilonen  (Fin) , P Uihlein  (USA) 

70 G Havret  (Fra) , P McGinley (Irl) , D McGrane (Irl) , G Fdez-Castaño  (Esp) , A Tadini (Ita) , S Wakefield (Eng) , R Santos  (Por) , R Jacquelin (Fra) , C Cévaër (Fra) , K Horne (RSA) , D Drysdale (Sco) , C Macaulay  (Sco) 

71 R Fisher (Eng) , J Olazábal (Esp) , A Levy (Fra) , J Campillo (Esp) , T Jaidee (Tha) , T Lewis (Eng) , A Marshall (Eng) , J Walters (RSA) , A Hansen (Den) , R Cabrera-Bello (Esp) , A Dodt (Aus) , A Kaleka  (Fra) , P Erofejeff (Fin) , J Parry (Eng) , S Henry  (Sco) , O Fisher  (Eng) , E De La Riva  (Esp) , R Wallis (Eng) , M Jonzon (Swe) , G Maybin (Nir) , M Korhonen (Fin) 

72 P Hedblom (Swe) , S Hansen (Den) , S Arnold  (Aus) , B Koepka  (USA) , K Broberg (Swe) , B Rumford (Aus) , T Björn (Den) , R Karlberg  (Swe) , G Storm  (Eng) , F Aguilar (Chi) , C Doak (Sco) , J Edfors (Swe) , M Carlsson  (Swe) , A Hartø  (Den) , S Kapur (Ind) , P Waring  (Eng) , S Gallacher (Sco) , M Nixon (Eng) , P Price (Wal) , R Wattel  (Fra) , S Chowrasia (Ind) 

73 F Molinari (Ita) , P Lawrie (Irl) , T Fleetwood  (Eng) , R McEvoy  (Eng) , D Willett  (Eng) , E Goya (Arg) , R Enoch  (Wal) , S Little (Eng) , A Snobeck  (Fra) , J Luiten (Ned) , H Otto (RSA) , M Campbell (Nzl) , J Lara (Esp) , J Quesne  (Fra) , N Fasth (Swe) ,

74 S Webster (Eng) , G Lockerbie  (Eng) , I Garrido (Esp) , M Baldwin (Eng) , M Tullo (Chi) , J Kruger (RSA) , P Meesawat  (Tha) , D Higgins (Irl) , S Jamieson  (Sco) , A Cañizares  (Esp) , M Madsen  (Den) , G Wright  (Wal) , T Olesen (Den) , P Larrazábal (Esp) , B Wiesberger  (Aut) , J Lagergren (Swe) , C Paisley  (Eng) 

75 F Zanotti (Par) , M Southgate  (Eng) , L Slattery (Eng) , T Levet (Fra) , V Dubuisson  (Fra) , R Dinsdale (Wal) , C Lloyd (Eng) , F Andersson Hed (Swe) , K Aphibarnrat (Tha) , R Bland (Eng) 

76 S Hend (Aus) , R Gonzalez (Arg) , S Dyson  (Eng) , S Benson (Eng) , P Whiteford (Sco) , D Howell (Eng) , M Lundberg (Swe) , G Boyd  (Eng) , L Gagli  (Ita) , J Singh (Ind) , B Åkesson (Swe) , A Forsyth (Sco) , S Strange (Aus) , R James (am) (Wal) 

77 O Floren  (Swe) , J Morrison  (Eng) , D Gaunt (Aus) , L Jensen (Den) , Z Lam (Sin) , C Lee (Sco) , M Warren (Sco) , A Quiros  (Esp) , M Delpodio  (Ita) , E Pepperell (Eng) , M Moseley (am) (Wal) 

78 S Thornton (Irl) , T Innes Ker (Sco) , J Gonnet  (Fra) , D Clarke (Nir), M Wiegele  (Aut), R Davies (Wal) , M Jiménez (Esp) , D Boote (am) (Wal) 

79 A Sullivan (Eng) , C Del Moral (Esp) , D Fichardt (RSA) , S Dodd (Wal) 

80 R Finch  (Eng) , S Khan (Eng) , J Sjöholm (Swe) , M Lampert (Ger) 

81 D Brooks (Eng) , G Orr (Sco) ,

84 S Bebb (Wal) 

88 M Kobayashi (Jpn) 

** M Lafeber (Ned)

 

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