PAUL LAWRIE REGAINS FORM WITH A 67
Cultured Coetzee shows his class in Qatar
George
Coetzee, pictured above, courtesy of Getty Images(c), powered his way to the top of the leaderboard on the opening
day of the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters after a devastating display
with his putter.
Coetzee
needed just 21 putts in a round of 64 which saw the burly South African
open up a one-shot lead over his compatriot Dawie Van der Walt and
England’s Steve Webster, who rewrote the history books after starting
his round of 65 with
an albatross.
Coetzee enjoyed some good fortune during his eight under par opening effort, but the 27 year old from Pretoria – who is chasing his debut European Tour title – made the most of his luck with a stunning display on Doha Golf Club’s recently re-laid greens.
He said: “I was quite lucky to get away with some shots I hit today, but put on another good putting display to finish on a nice number.
Coetzee enjoyed some good fortune during his eight under par opening effort, but the 27 year old from Pretoria – who is chasing his debut European Tour title – made the most of his luck with a stunning display on Doha Golf Club’s recently re-laid greens.
He said: “I was quite lucky to get away with some shots I hit today, but put on another good putting display to finish on a nice number.
“There’s
always a lot of luck involved in this game, especially the way I played
today. I think I had 21 putts, inlcuding a three-putt, so that goes to show
that I can hit the ball a little bit better. I can’t wait for it all to
click, because
when I do I might be unstoppable!”
Webster’s
game clicked into gear in rapid fashion, as the Englishman struck a
five wood from the fairway of the tenth hole 254 yards into the cup for
an opening albatross – a first on The European Tour.
It was the second albatross of
Webster’s career – the first came at the 2011 Open d’Italia where,
coincidentally, he used the same five wood.
Webster’s
day then got even better with five birdies in his next 12 holes, but
after a bogey on the sixth he trails Coetzee by one shot.
Webster
said: “There were two people behind the green, and one of them started
jumping up and pointing down. So I didn’t know whether it’d gone over
the back into the rocks, but when I got up to the green he started
clapping.
“So
it was a dream start – I’ve certainly never been three under after one
hole before. I didn’t know if it was going to be my day, or whether I’d
used up all my luck on the first.
“I
played great after that, was just really consistent and gave myself a
lot of putts. I was probably a little disappointed with seven under to
be honest, because I should probably have finished on nine or ten
under.”
The
highlight of Van der Walt’s flawless round was an eagle at the first
hole, while Ross Fisher closed with an eagle to share fourth place on
six under par with Rafa Cabrera-Bello, Francois Calmels and Spanish
rookie Nacho Elvira.
A
trio of Major champions – Ernie Els, John Daly and Paul Lawrie – are
among the six players a further stroke back on five under 67 with Els
holing out from a greenside bunker for a closing eagle during his first
competitive round with 14
new clubs in his bag.
Two-time winner of this tournament, Lawrie's Ryder Cup hopes badly needed a good start after missing the cut in Abu Dhabi last week.
Two-time winner of this tournament, Lawrie's Ryder Cup hopes badly needed a good start after missing the cut in Abu Dhabi last week.
The
French duo of Gary Stal and Romain Wattel and Welshman Stuart Manley
were unable to finish when play was suspended at 5.22pm due to darkness,
and so will return to the course at 7.15am on Thursday morning to
complete their first rounds.
FIRST ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 72
64 G Coetzee (RSA)
65 S Webster (Eng), D Van Der Walt (RSA)
66 R Fisher (Eng), N Elvira (Esp)], F Calmels (Fra), R Cabrera-Bello (Esp)
67 G Bhullar (Ind), J Daly (USA), T Aiken (RSA), B Grace (RSA), P Lawrie (Sco), E Els (RSA)
68 M
Hoey (NIr), H Stenson (Swe), M Ilonen (Fin), S Dyson (Eng), T Olesen
(Den), T Lewis (Eng), S Benson (Eng), T Jaidee (Tha), M Baldwin (Eng), A
Cañizares (Esp), S Kapur (Ind), J Morrison (Eng)
69 T
Hatton (Eng), K Broberg (Swe); S Gallacher (Sco); A Quiros (Esp); M
Siem (Ger); F Zanotti (Par); J Olazábal (Esp); E Pepperell (Eng); P
Hanson (Swe); M Carlsson (Swe); J Carlsson (Swe); C Doak (Sco); J Parry
(Eng); R Bland (Eng);
D Fichardt (RSA)
70 J
Dufner (USA); B Koepka (USA); S Kjeldsen (Den); R Derksen (Ned); A
Wall (Eng); A Saddier (Fra); M Crespi (Ita); G Havret (Fra); M Kaymer
(Ger); R Karlsson (Swe); P Uihlein (USA); R Rock (Eng); M Warren (Sco);
D McGrane (Irl); S
Thornton (Irl); D Foos (Ger) (am)
71 P
Larrazábal (Esp); R Dinwiddie (Eng); A Sullivan (Eng); M Jiménez
(Esp); J Walters (RSA); S Garcia (Esp); D Willett (Eng); H Otto (RSA);
B Wiesberger (Aut); J Quesne (Fra); J Singh (Ind)
72 M
Foster (Eng); L Donald (Eng); C Del Moral (Esp); R Santos (Por); R
Gonzalez (Arg); G Mulroy (RSA); R Jacquelin (Fra); J Kruger (RSA); C Lee
(Sco); J Lima (Por); W Ormsby (Aus); A Pavan (Ita); E Grillo (Arg); P
Whiteford (Sco); A
Otaegui (Esp)
73 P
McGinley (Irl); S Hansen (Den); C Wood (Eng); L Slattery (Eng); D
Huizing (Ned); V Riu (Fra); E De La Riva (Esp); B Rumford (Aus); M
Kieffer (Ger); R Kakko (Fin); D Howell (Eng); S Kim (SKor); T Fleetwood
(Eng); J Jeong (Kor);
A Al-Shahrani (Qat) (am)
74 P
Waring (Eng); M Fraser (Aus); T Björn (Den); G Storm (Eng); J
McLeary (Sco); E Molinari (Ita); R Sterne (RSA); R Green (Aus); G
Maybin (Nir); J Campillo (Esp); M Madsen (Den); J Hahn (USA); M
Williams (Eng) (am)
75 R Finch (Eng)
76 S Lowry (Ire); C Arendell (USA); B Stone (RSA); M Nixon (Eng)
78 A Al Kaabi (Qat) (am)
79 J Hansen (Den); N Fasth (Swe); J Dantorp (Swe); A Levy (Fra)
80 P Lawrie (Ire); T Levet (Fra)
WD M Campbell (NZ) withdrew
Labels: EUROPEAN TOUR
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