EDDIE PEPPERELL LEADS WITH FOUR-UNDER 68

RICHIE RAMSAY, PAUL LAWRIE IN THE 

MIX AFTER SPANISH OPEN ROUND ONE 
FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Oxfordshire's Eddie Pepperell emerged from a tightly packed leaderboard to claim the outright lead after the first round of the Open de España.
Pepperell carded an opening four under par 68 at PGA Catalunya Resort to finish a shot ahead of a group of eight players, including Aberdeen's Richie Ramsay - who started with a hat-trick of birdies,  pre-tournament favourite Sergio Garcia and fellow Spaniards Miguel Angel Jiménez and Rafael Cabrera-Bello.
Another eight players were a shot further back on two under 70, including Ryder Cup hopeful Joost Luiten and former Open champion Paul Lawrie, who was making his first appearance since the end of January after back and neck problems.
Pepperell finished 76th on The Race to Dubai in his rookie campaign last year, but so far this season has made just three halfway cuts in ten events, with a best finish of joint 45th in Abu Dhabi in January.
"Seemingly it's come out of nowhere looking at my results but it's very similar to last year," said the 23 year old, whose best finish in 2013 was a tie for sixth in the flagship BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.
"This time last year I started working with Mike (Walker, who also coaches Lee Westwood) and he made a big difference instantly. Then I went and did a couple of my own things, which was a bit silly and cost me a bit of time this year but I feel like I am back on the straight and narrow.
"I back my ability and I know when I am playing well I can shoot good scores. I'm just not at the stage in my career yet when I am playing well enough consistently enough, but hopefully I will get there and today is a good sign.
"It was really tricky when it was flat calm and when I got on the tenth tee all of a sudden the wind came up out of nowhere and was blowing for the whole of the back nine."
Garcia had enjoyed the calmer morning conditions as he set about justifying his billing as pre-tournament favourite with an opening 69.
Fresh from his third place in the Players Championship at Sawgrass on Sunday, Garcia shrugged off a bad night’s sleep as he looks to win his national open for the second time, 12 years after his previous success.
The World No 7  carded three birdies, an eagle and two bogeys.
"I'm happy with my round," Garcia said. "I didn't have the greatest night last night and only slept for about four hours with the jet lag.
"I didn't feel extremely well with my swing but I managed to put it in play and give myself some good chances at birdies. The course is tough and the fairways are some of the tightest we have played all year.
"With the grass they have in this rough as soon as you miss the fairway it's a guessing game."
Dutchman Robert-Jan Derksen partly had a hole-in-one on the fifth to thank for his 69 - he holed out with a five iron from 211 yards.
SCOTSWATCH
Aberdeen's Richie Ramsay would have hoped for even better than his 69 after birdies on his first three holes. He turned in three-under 33 and then got to four-under-par with a birdie at the 15th but a bogey at the 17th was a late disappointment.
Paul Lawrie shot a 70 after birdied the long third, long seventh and ninth - one bogey, at the short fifth - in a two-under-par outward half of 34.
He had nine straight pars after the turn to be joint 13th, not a bad return after a stretch of uncompetitive weeks due to a neck injury, but Paul
always seems to play well on Spanish courses.
 Not all the Scots played as well as Paul and several are in danger of missing the cut which is forecast to be around one under par 143, maybe lower.
Craig Lee had a 73, one ahead of David Drysdale, Peter Whiteford and Scott Jamieson.
Marc Warren and Chris Doak are on the 75 mark, one ahead of Jack Doherty.
Alastair Forsyth and Jamie McLeary are toiling on 77 and poor Scott Henry, after losing a play-off in the weather-shortened Madeira Open, comes here and shoots an abysmal 82.
FIRST-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 72
68 Eddie Pepperell (England)
69 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain), Sergio Garcia (Spain), Richie Ramsay (Scotland), Jose-Filipe Lima (Portugal), Peter Uihlein (USA), Thomas Pieters (Belgium), Robert-Jan Derksen (Netherlands).
70 Joost Luiten (Netherlands), Paul Lawrie (Scotland), Jordi Garcia Pinto (Spain), Danny Willett (England), Ross Fisher (England), Jbe Kruger (South africa).
OTHER SCOTS' SCORES
73 Craig Lee
74 David Drysdale, Peter Whiteford, Scott Jamieson
75 Marc Warren, Chris Doak
76 Jack Doherty
77 Alastair Forsyth, Jamie McLeary
82 Scott Henry


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England's Eddie Pepperell emerged from a tightly packed leaderboard to claim the outright lead after the first round of the Open de España.

Pepperell carded an opening four under par 68 at PGA Catalunya Resort to finish a shot ahead of a group of eight players, including pre-tournament favourite Sergio Garcia and fellow Spaniards Miguel Angel Jiménez and Rafael Cabrera-Bello.

Another eight players were a shot further back on two under, including Ryder Cup hopeful Joost Luiten and former Open Champion Paul Lawrie, who was making his first appearance since the end of January after back and neck problems.

Pepperell finished 76th on The Race to Dubai in his rookie campaign last year, but so far this season has made just three halfway cuts in ten events, with a best finish of joint 45th in Abu Dhabi in January.

"Seemingly it's come out of nowhere looking at my results but it's very similar to last year," said the 23 year old, whose best finish in 2013 was a tie for sixth in the flagship BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.

"This time last year I started working with Mike (Walker, who also coaches Lee Westwood) and he made a big difference instantly. Then I went and did a couple of my own things, which was a bit silly and cost me a bit of time this year but I feel like I am back on the straight and narrow.

"I back my ability and I know when I am playing well I can shoot good scores. I'm just not at the stage in my career yet when I am playing well enough consistently enough, but hopefully I will get there and today is a good sign.

"It was really tricky when it was flat calm and when I got on the tenth tee all of a sudden the wind came up out of nowhere and was blowing for the whole of the back nine."

Garcia had enjoyed the calmer morning conditions as he set about justifying his billing as pre-tournament favourite with an opening 69.

Fresh from his third place in the Players Championship at Sawgrass on Sunday, Garcia shrugged off a bad night’s sleep as he looks to win his national open for the second time, 12 years after his previous success.

The World Number Seven carded three birdies, an eagle and two bogeys.

"I'm happy with my round," Garcia said. "I didn't have the greatest night last night and only slept for about four hours with the jet lag.

"I didn't feel extremely well with my swing but I managed to put it in play and give myself some good chances at birdies. The course is tough and the fairways are some of the tightest we have played all year.

"With the grass they have in this rough as soon as you miss the fairway it's a guessing game."

Dutchman Robert-Jan Derksen partly had a hole-in-one on the fifth to thank for his 69 - he holed out with a five iron from 211 yards - while Scotland's Richie Ramsay would have hoped for even better than his 69 after birdies on his first three holes.

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