Garcia goes low with a 64 in BMW Masters

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Sergio Garcia was fast out of the blocks as he equalled his lowest European Tour round of 2015 with a superb eight under par 64 on the opening day of the BMW Masters, the penultimate event of The European Tour’s Race to Dubai.
The Spaniard, who posted the same score in the final round of the Omega European Masters in July, carded three birdies in the opening four holes on both nines, and registered nine birdies overall in his first competitive round at Lake Malaren Golf Club, in Shanghai.
Garcia has a one shot advantage over Frenchman Victor Dubuission, who continued the form which brought him victory in his last appearance in the Turkish Airlines Open with a flawless 65, and South Korean Byeong Hun An, who was also bogey-free as he chases a second BMW title of 2015 following his PGA Championship victory in May.
Englishman Ross Fisher, who lost in a play-off 12 months ago, is a further shot back on six under par, as his affinity with Shanghai continues following his share of third place in last week’s WGC-HSBC Champions in the same city.
He was joined in fourth position by Denmark’s Lucas Bjerregaard, who finished runner-up to Justin Rose in last month’s UBS Hong Kong Open, while Rose’s bid for back-to-back titles on Chinese soil began with a five under par round of 67, leaving the Englishman three shots off the pace in a share of sixth position with compatriot Paul Casey and Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee.
Key player quotes
Sergio Garcia – 64 (-8)
“It was nice. Conditions were quite good, not much wind, a little bit of a drizzle but other than that it was good. The course is nice. I drove the ball very well and that gave me a lot of opportunities to hit some good iron shots. So, it was a nice round.

“I got off to a nice start and I had three birdies in the first four on my front nine and then another three on the first four on the back nine. It’s the kind of round that you are looking for.

“I’m feeling a bit more comfortable, a bit better. I had a couple of rounds last week where I felt like I played better than I did in Malaysia. Hopefully I keep improving as the week goes on, and we'll be out there on Sunday having a chance.”
Victor Dubuisson – 65 (-7)
“It's been a long time I shot a low score to start a tournament. Usually I play so-so the first two rounds and I do well on the weekend where I make some good results. But to start with seven under, it feels great for confidence for the rest of the tournament.
“It’s carrying on what I did in Turkey. I feel so good on the greens. When I read the line well, I feel like the putt can only go in the hole, and you don’t have this feeling much time during the year. So yeah, it feels great.”
Byeong Hun An – 65 (-7)
“The round was just really good. I think I hit 17 or 18 greens today, so I’m quite happy with that.
I would say at least 12 or 13 holes, they were all in birdie range of say 20 feet, and I hit it really well today. I’ve been playing well the last two weeks.”
Ross Fisher – 66 (-6)
“It felt very similar to Sunday at the WGC-HSBC Champions on the greens. I just felt like I saw the lines and I had the speed dialled in. I had a few putts that slipped by, but to finish by birdieing on eight where I hit a good four iron in, and then nine, to birdie that was a bonus. So, 66 is going to make lunch taste pretty sweet.”
Justin Rose – 67 (-5)
“Last year, I started on the back nine and I was four over through four I think. From that point onwards, I made a bunch of birdies and put myself in contention to win the tournament. I had a little bit more of a smooth start today: one under through the first four. So we celebrated that.
“I played okay today. I ,ys were going low today and tried to urge myself to sort of get it to three or four under, and I actually beat my own expectations and finished five under for the round. I’m very happy with how I played the last seven or eight holes, and it was a good day’s work in the end.”

SCOREBOARD (par 72)
64 S Garcia  (Esp)
65 B An (SKor) , V Dubuisson  (Fra)   
66 L Bjerregaard  (Den) , R Fisher (Eng)  
67 J Rose (Eng) , P Casey  (Eng) , T Jaidee (Tha)
68 J Van Zyl (RSA) , F Molinari (Ita) , R Ramsay  (Sco) , E Pepperell (Eng) , I Poulter (Eng) , H Stenson (Swe) , M Fitzpatrick  (Eng) , Z Xinjun (Chn) , D Zecheng (Chn) ,
 69 G Stal  (Fra) , D Howell (Eng) , M Kaymer (Ger) , K Broberg (Swe) , S Hend (Aus) , B Hebert  (Fra) ,
 70 F Zanotti (Par) , D Lee  (Nzl) , L Oosthuizen  (RSA) , J Luiten (Ned) , A Noren  (Swe) , J Morrison  (Eng) , L Wenchong (Chn) , C Wood  (Eng) , R Karlberg  (Swe) , J Quesne  (Fra) , D Horsey (Eng) , G Bourdy (Fra) , M Fraser (Aus) , S Lowry  (Irl) ,
 71 E Grillo (Arg) , P Uihlein  (USA) , P McGinley (Irl) , T Fisher Jnr (RSA) , Z Hui-Lin (Chn) , B Wiesberger  (Aut) , T Pieters  (Bel) , B Grace  (RSA) , P Reed (USA) , L Haotong (Chn) ,
 72 C Zi-Hao (Chn) , D Willett  (Eng) , G Storm  (Eng) , K Aphibarnrat (Tha) , S Kjeldsen (Den) , J Daly (USA) , M Kieffer (Ger) , S Gallacher (Sco) , K Moon (Kor) , M Warren (Sco) , L Slattery (Eng) , M Siem  (Ger) , R Cabrera-Bello (Esp) , T Fleetwood  (Eng) ,
 73 C Yi (Chn) , A Levy (Fra) , A Cañizares  (Esp) , A Wall (Eng) ,
 74 H Ze-Yu (Chn) , P Larrazábal (Esp) , T Hatton (Eng) , A Sullivan (Eng) , W Ashun (Chn) ,
 75 T Olesen (Den) ,
 76 J Donaldson (Wal) ,
 77 H Mu (Chn) , O Zheng (Chn) ,
 78 M Jiménez (Esp) , R Jacquelin (Fra) , Z Xiongyi (Chn) ,
 80 Y Zhou Huan (Chn) ,

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