Daly opens with 74 in defence of Beko Classic

John Daly has made a moderate start with a first-round 74 in defence of the PGAs of Europe Beko Classic at the Montgomerie Course in Antalya, southern Turkey.

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 A stellar line up took to the 2015 Turkish Airlines Open host course, the Montgomerie Maxx Royal in Turkey, to battle it out for the title of 2015 Beko Classic Champion and follow in the footsteps of last year’s champion and two-time major winner, John Daly.

Sunny but blustery conditions met the competitors, which made it a tough day for scoring for both Professionals and amateurs alike.  But making an early push for the title was PGA of Sweden Tour Professional and European Tour Member, Pontus Widegren who shot an excellent birdie-filled 69, signing for a three-under score and giving him a slender lead heading into the second round.

With three bogeys being cancelled out by six birdies, it was an exciting round from the young Swede, whose run of five birdies in six holes in the middle of his opening round saw him charge up the leaderboard and into pole position.

Just one shot behind is five-time European Tour winner, David Howell, who recovered after bogeying the first hole to reach two-under and remain well in contention.

Joining David Howell on two-under is Challenge Tour Member, James Heath, who had five birdies and three bogeys on his way to signing for 70 and finishing the day just one off the lead.

With 11 players within three of the lead, the next couple of days are set to be an exciting contest with so many close in contention.

In the team competition it was the Beko UK team that took the early initiative with a superb first round 85-point total (-13).

The team made up of PGA of GB&I’s Chris Gane and his amateurs Nuri Conker, Johnathan Copp and Richard Moore will be looking to build on their two-point lead over the team in second place – Beko Poland - over the next two days.

Six teams lie within five points of the leaders it looks like the team event will be a fiercely competed tournament over the remaining rounds. For updates and scores across the week visit http://eur.pe/2015Beko