Raphael Jacquelin studies the line of a putt today. Picture by courtesy of Getty Images(c)
REPORT FROM EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Raphaël Jacquelin finished with back-to-back birdies for a five-under-par 67 to lead by one stroke at the end of the first round
of the Volvo Golf Champions from defending champion Louis
Oosthuizen in The European Tour’s opening event of the 2014 calendar
year.
Frenchman Jacquelin, who earned his place in the 36-man ‘tournament of
champions’ field by winning the 2013 Open de España after an epic
nine-hole play-off, showed few signs of rust in his game following the
winter break, despite the windy conditions at Durban
Country Club, in South Africa.
After opening with five straight pars, Jacquelin birdied the sixth and
eighth holes before the turn, then picked up further shots on the 14th, 17th and 18th holes for a five under par round of 67.
“I managed to get everything right today,” he said. “It was a bogey‑free
round, and that was the key - to go every round bogey‑free on this
course. It's a new year and it is pretty good way for me to start, so
that's great.”
Oosthuizen took a little longer to get back into the swing, dropping a
shot on the first hole, but the South African hit back with five birdies
for a round of 68, as he attempts to become the first player to
successfully defend the Volvo Golf Champions title.
“It was a rough start, and it’s not the easiest five holes to start the
day with in that wind, but, I got into a rhythm quickly at about the
third, or fourth hole and felt comfortable in the wind,” he said.
“I think level par, or one under, for me would have been a nice start
just to get the tournament going. But once I turned, when I got to the
10th, I really felt comfortable out there. I still left quite a few
birdies out there, and I didn’t really make any
putts, but, I feel good.”
Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke, benefitting from a new fitness regime,
shares third position with Frenchman Victor Dubuisson after both
players carded opening rounds of 69.
Scotland senior Colin Montgomerie mixed six birdies with four bogeys in his
round of 70 and shares fifth position with sixth other players,
including the European Tour’s 2013 Rookie of the Year, American Peter
Uihlein, who recovered from a triple bogey 7 on
the first hole.
Surprise of the day was a seven-over-par 79 by Thomas Bjorn who is already rated a certainty for a Ryder Cup team place at Gleneagles in September.
FIRST ROUND SCORES
Par 72
67 R Jacquelin (Fra)
68 L Oosthuizen (RSA)
69 V Dubuisson (Fra) , D Clarke (Nir) ,
70
C Wood (Eng) , J Luiten (Ned) , P Uihlein (USA) , S Thornton (Irl) , T
Fleetwood (Eng) , M Siem (Ger) , C Montgomerie (Sco)
71 P Harrington (Irl) , J Donaldson (Wal) , D Van Der Walt (RSA) , D Lynn (Eng) , M Madsen (Den)
72 M Hoey (Nir) , T Aiken (RSA) , P Casey (Eng) , R Sterne (RSA) , M Manassero (Ita)
73 J Olazábal (Esp) , M Ilonen (Fin) , S Gallacher (Sco) , D Fichardt (RSA) , J Jeong (SKor) , B Rumford (Aus)
74 R Karlsson (Swe) , J Quesne (Fra) , B Grace (RSA) , G Fernandez-Castaño (Esp) , C Schwartzel (RSA)
75 K Aphibarnrat (Tha)
76 M Jiménez (Esp) , D Howell (Eng)
79 T Björn (Den)
Labels: EUROPEAN TOUR
