Thursday, November 05, 2015


Amazing Grace shoots a 63 in  Shanghai
 EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Branden Grace posted the lowest opening round in the history of the WGC-HSBC Champions - a brilliant bogey-free nine under par round of 63 at Sheshan International Golf Club in Shanghai.


The South African, pictured, who won the Volvo China Open in 2012, carded five birdies on his outward nine after starting on the tenth tee, and he picked up four more shots after the turn to move one shot clear of Dane Thorbjørn Olesen, American Kevin Kisner and Australian Steven Bowditch.
Englishman Danny Willett, who is currently second behind Rory McIlroy in the Race to Dubai, is a further shot back on seven under par after dropping his only shot of the day on the final hole for a round of 65, the same total as American duo Patrick Reed and Dustin Johnson.
World Number Three McIlroy, who was unable to practise before the tournament because of food poisoning, began his bid for a second World Golf Championship title of 2015 with a four under par round of 68, which included a double bogey six on the 15th hole, his sixth hole after starting on the tenth tee.

Key player quotes
Branden Grace – 63 (-9)
 “Today was phenomenal out there. There was barely a breath of wind out there and the golf course is playing probably as easy as it could be playing. There's some low scores out there. The guys are playing some great golf, and when you play on greens like this, as well, it helps. You just have to get the ball on the right line and it goes in.
“The Presidents Cup was a big boost for me. Coming into these events, knowing that I'm sixth, I know one good week can change everything and I’m giving it a last final push. There's a lot still to play for.”
Thorbjørn Olesen – 64 (-8)
“It was brilliant. I really had it going down the front nine. I think after nine, I thought about that 60 number. I hit a couple of bad shots on the back nine, but overall I played really, really well. I holed some good putts and it was a really solid round.
Danny Willett – 65 (-7)
“I was a bit disappointed with the finish. I didn't have the best warm-up after a good few days of prep. I said at the beginning, if you're going to miss two greens and two fairways, you're doing all right. I’m really pleased. I went out there, knuckled down and hit a lot of good shots.
Rory McIlroy – 68 (-4)
“I've lost ten pounds since being here. I can't remember the last time I was this light. But hopefully I’ll have a couple of good meals over the next couple days and rehydrate and I'll be feeling a lot better.  I felt like I played okay. Tee-to-green was pretty good. I was disappointed I missed three good chances coming in there on the front nine and didn't quite capitalise on those. So it was a score that I thought could have been a lot better, but considering the position I was in this time yesterday, it's not a bad start.”
FIRST ROUND SCORES

Par 72
63 B Grace  (RSA)
64 T Olesen (Den) , S Bowditch (Aus) , K Kisner (USA) ,
65 D Johnson (USA) , D Willett  (Eng) , P Reed (USA) ,
 

66 L Haotong (Chn)
67 T Fleetwood  (Eng) , T Fisher Jnr (RSA) , R Knox (Sco) , H English (USA) , T Pieters  (Bel) , P Casey  (Eng) , Z Xinjun (Chn) ,
 68 C Schwartzel  (RSA) , H Mahan  (USA) , C Wood  (Eng) , R Lee (Can) , S Hend (Aus) , L Oosthuizen  (RSA) , S Kjeldsen (Den) , J Spieth  (USA) , B Watson (USA) , D Berger (USA) , R McIlroy  (Nir) , R Fowler  (USA) , S Garcia  (Esp) , D Summerhays (USA) , M Fitzpatrick  (Eng) ,
 69 S Chawrasia (Ind) , J Morrison  (Eng) , M Kaymer (Ger) , R Fisher (Eng), M Leishman (Aus) , E Grillo (Arg), W Ashun (Chn) , B An (SKor) , G Woodland (USA) , K Aphibarnrat (Tha) , H Stenson (Swe) 

 70 A Noren  (Swe) , T Aiken (RSA) , T Hatton (Eng), C Yi (Chn) , A Dodt (Aus), H Iwata (Jpn) , D Zecheng (Chn) , S Piercy (USA) , D Lingmerth (Swe) , B Wiesberger  (Aut) , A Sullivan (Eng) , A Lahiri (Ind) ,
 71 L Wenchong (Chn) , H Matsuyama  (Jpn) , C Smith (Aus) , C Kirk (USA) , D Lee  (Nzl) , L Donald  (Eng) ,
 72 T Jaidee (Tha) , L Westwood (Eng) , J Thomas (USA) , D Chia (Mas) , I Poulter (Eng) , K Na (USA) ,
 73 G Chalmers (Aus) , R Streb (USA) , M Jiménez (Esp) , D Howell (Eng) ,
 74 S Lowry  (Irl) , M Jones (Aus) , N Cullen (Aus) , K Kim (Kor) , S Kodaira (Jpn) ,
 75 A Scott  (Aus) , M Warren (Sco)
 76 S Jeffress (Aus) ,
 77 D Van Tonder  (RSA) ,

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