Lefty Peterson gets it right in European
Masters' Day 1 with a six-under-par 64
NEWS RELEASE
Crans
Montana, Switzerland: Paul Peterson credited his
experience at the Omega European Masters last year for giving him a
share of the opening round lead with three other players today.
The
American left-hander missed the cut last year but showed no signs of
repeating his mistakes as he fired a six-under-par 64 to tie with Daniel
Brooks of England and Frenchmen Michael Lorenzo-Vera and Gregory
Havret at the €2.7 million event
sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour.
Title
holder and Masters Tournament champion Danny Willett of England is a
further shot back after firing an impressive eagle on the final hole to
share fourth place on 65 with China’s Li Hao-tong, Australians Marcus
Fraser and Scott Hend at the Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club.
Julien
Quesne of France, Joachim B. Hansen of Denmark, Richard Green of
Australia and Englishmen James Morrison and Andrew Johnston also had 65s
Peterson,
an Asian Tour member since 2014, continued his fine form at the Omega
European Masters after winning his career’s first title at the Czech
Masters on the European Tour a fortnight ago.
He
marked his card with seven birdies including one on the final hole to
give himself a chance to secure a second victory in three weeks.
“It
was a much better start than last year. I felt really good to get off
to a good start. I was reading the greens well and putting the ball in
play. I’m continuing my strong wedge game so I’m really happy,”
said Peterson.
“It
is really fun to come and play on this course again. Last year was my
first time but it shows how far I’ve come in a year. Some things might
have worried me in the past. Now I’m able to see where I want
to hit it and do it pretty well,” he added.
Playing from the 10th
tee, Willett launched his title defence with a stunning round which
included an eagle 3 on the ninth hole to recover from a slow start.
“It
was an early start and I had a terrible warm-up this morning. I got the
ball into play on the first few holes and felt a little bit better.
After six holes I made a few good golf shots. This course suits
my eye for some reason, it always has. I rolled the ball well but
didn’t quite expect a 65 this morning,” said the Englishman.
China’s
Li, who won the China Open on the European Tour in May, recovered from
two early bogeys to trail the leaders by one-shot as he emerged as the
best placed Asian after day one.
“It
was a tough start for me but I played quite well after that. I had a
lot of birdie chances and sank a lot of putts. I’m more consistent as
compared to the last few weeks. I’m working with a new coach and
it seems to be paying off,” said Li.
Hend, a
nine-time Asian Tour winner and currently ranked third on the Order of
Merit, was delighted to return with a battling 65 in tricky and
challenging conditions.
“Nothing
on this course suits my game,” he said. “This is a very precision type
golf course as you can tell from all the past winners. It is not a golf
course which you can bludgeoned to death. A lot of patience
is needed here.”
“We
teed off at 8am and for the first nine holes the ball doesn’t go as far
but as it warms up you pick up another three or five yards on your
irons. It can be quite tricky for the guys who are playing here
for the first time,” said Hend.
Paul Lawrie (35-35) and David Drysdale matched par with a round of 71 apiece. They are T49. Richie Tamsay is T66 on 71; Stephen Gallacher T83 on 72; Marc Warren T108 on 73; Scott Jamieson T130 on 75 and Craig Lee T141 on 76,
FIRST-ROUND LEADERS
Par 70
64 - Paul PETERSON (USA) , Michael LORENZO-VERA (FRA) , Gregory HAVRET (FRA) , Daniel BROOKS (ENG)
65
- Joachim B. HANSEN (DEN) , Julien QUESNE (FRA) , Scott HEND (AUS) , LI
Hao-tong (CHN) , James MORRISON (ENG) , Danny WILLETT (ENG) , Marcus
FRASER (AUS) , Richard GREEN (AUS) , Andrew JOHNSTON (ENG)
66
- Steve WEBSTER (ENG) , Nino Bertasio (ITA) , Anthony WALL (ENG) ,
Andrew DODT (AUS) , Mikko ILONEN (FIN) , Richard STERNE (RSA) , Mathias
EGGENBERGER (A) (SUI) , Graeme STORM (ENG) , Callum SHINKWIN (ENG)
67
- Florian FRITSCH (GER) , Richard BLAND (ENG) , Robert ROCK (ENG) ,
Miguel Angel JIMENEZ (ESP) , Oliver WILSON (ENG) , Richard T. LEE (CAN) ,
John PARRY (ENG) , Carlos PIGEM (ESP) , David HOWELL (ENG)
68
- Rikard KARLBERG (SWE) , Soomin LEE (SKOR) , Adilson Da SILVA (BRA) ,
CHAN Shih-chang (TPE) , Romain LANGASQUE (FRA) , Johan CARLSSON (SWE) ,
Bernd WIESBERGER (AUT) , Alexander LEVY (FRA)
69
- Chiragh KUMAR (IND) , Chris WOOD (ENG) , Alejandro CANIZARES (ESP) ,
Felipe AGUILAR (CHI) , Raphael JACQUELIN (FRA) , Nicolas COLSAERTS (BEL)
, Romain WATTEL (FRA) , Alex NOREN (SWE) , Prom MEESAWAT (THA)
70
- Ricardo GOUVEIA (POR) , Matthew SOUTHGATE (ENG) , Brett RUMFORD (AUS)
, Marcel SIEM (GER) , Edoardo MOLINARI (ITA) , Paul LAWRIE (SCO) ,
Oliver FISHER (ENG) , Simon KHAN (ENG) , Stewart CINK (USA) , George
COETZEE (RSA) , Masahiro KAWAMURA (JPN) , Lee SLATTERY (ENG) , Darren
FICHARDT (RSA) , Tommy FLEETWOOD (ENG) , Magnus A CARLSSON (SWE) , Chris
PAISLEY (ENG) , David DRYSDALE (SCO).
OTHER SCOTS' SCORES
71 R Ramsay (T66)
72 S Gallacher (T83)
73 M Warren (T108)
75 S Jamieson (T130)
76 C Lee (T41)
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