THREE SHARE LEAD AT ITALIAN OPEN
REPORT FROM EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
After being forced to withdraw in Holland last week due to illness, Nicolas Colsaerts was back on form to share the lead with Ricardo Gonzalez and Max Kieffer at the 70° Open d’Italia LINDT thanks to a weekend at home on the couch being looked after by his mum.
FIRST ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 72
After being forced to withdraw in Holland last week due to illness, Nicolas Colsaerts was back on form to share the lead with Ricardo Gonzalez and Max Kieffer at the 70° Open d’Italia LINDT thanks to a weekend at home on the couch being looked after by his mum.
The
Belgian Ryder Cup star bogeyed his first hole on day one at Circolo
Golf Torino, but reeled off seven birdies in his next eight holes to
reach the turn in six under. A more sedate back nine followed for
Colsaerts, but the 30 year old
finished with a birdie on the last to join Gonzalez and Kieffer on
seven under par and one stroke clear of Australia’s Marcus Fraser.
“Apart from the bogey at the tenth, my
first hole of the day, I got off to an amazing start and was kind of
flying on my front nine,” said Colsaerts.
“Then I didn’t make birdie on the first
which is an easy par five and then there were a few occasions where I
had wedge in hand and didn’t give myself the chances for birdies that I
probably should have. It was nice to finish with a birdie
though and get a good round in.
Asked how he had recovered from the illness he picked up in Holland, Colsaerts’ comeback was up to his usual high standard.
“Nothing beats being back home with
your mum looking after you – everyone knows that man,” replied the man
commonly known as ‘the Dude’. “I was sitting at home on the couch
watching the golf from Holland and was quite happy to be looked
after by my mum. It was the best place to be for me and I feel a lot
better for it. Sometimes nothing else will do!”
Kieffer may well need some of the same
treatment. The young German, who lost in that unforgettable nine-hole
play-off at the Spanish Open to Raphaël Jacquelin earlier in the season,
admitted he was suffering from the cold and not feeling
his best about coming to Italy but he soon banished any doubts with a
fine 65.
Gonzalez, meanwhile, produced his own
brand of outstanding play. The big Argentine was at his prodigious best
as he covered his last seven holes in five under to join the lead.
Francesco Molinari, playing around the
course he learned to play the game along with brother Edoardo, leads the
Italian challenge on four under par. His younger countryman, Matteo
Manassero posted a two under 70 but the home performance
of the day arguably came from Circolo Golf Torino’s 16 year old amateur
Edoardo Raffaele Lipparelli, who managed to open his European Tour
career with a three under 69.
Par 72
65 R Gonzalez (Arg); M Kieffer (Ger); N Colsaerts (Bel);
66 M Fraser (Aus);
67 D Higgins (Irl); S Webster (Eng);
68 S Benson (Eng); J Campillo (Esp); J Kingston (RSA); S Thornton (Irl); F Molinari (Ita); R Finch (Eng); J Hansen (Den);
69 B Wiesberger (Aut); E Goya
(Arg); A Hartø (Den); J Edfors (Swe); F Aguilar (Chi); S Dyson (Eng); J
Ruth (Eng); D Drysdale (Sco); T Aiken (RSA); E Lipparelli (am) (Ita);
70 K Broberg (Swe); M Korhonen
(Fin); M Nixon (Eng); A Levy (Fra); G Storm (Eng); M Tullo (Chi); M
Manassero (Ita); J Quesne (Fra); R Coles (Eng); M Lafeber (Ned); L
Slattery (Eng); J Van Zyl (RSA); C Lloyd (Eng); J Walters (RSA);
S Kjeldsen (Den); S Wakefield (Eng); E Kofstad (Nor); R Goosen (RSA); E
Grillo (Arg); T Lewis (Eng);
71 J Olazábal (Esp); R Derksen
(Ned); A Quiros (Esp); G Bourdy (Fra); R Allenby (Aus); R Cabrera-Bello
(Esp); G Fdez-Castaño (Esp); G Mulroy (RSA); C Paisley (Eng); D
Howell (Eng); M Grönberg (Swe); H Otto (RSA); D McGrane (Irl);
O Floren (Swe); N Fasth (Swe); M Baldwin (Eng); F Zanotti (Par); A
Cañizares (Esp); R Wattel (Fra); J Lucquin (Fra);
72 M Carlsson (Swe); R Karlberg
(Swe); D Horsey (Eng); M Delpodio (Ita); G Molteni (Ita); A Marshall
(Eng); S Jamieson (Sco); L Ruspa (Ita); R Rock (Eng); A Tadini (Ita); B
Åkesson (Swe); R Green (Aus); S Hend (Aus); J Sandelin
(Swe); E De La Riva (Esp); T Van Der Walt (RSA); R Santos (Por); J
Lagergren (Swe); M Madsen (Den); A Bruschi (Ita); R Michelini (am)
(Ita); R Paratore (am) (Ita);
73 I Garrido (Esp); J Singh (Ind); P
Whiteford (Sco); P Lawrie (Irl); P Hedblom (Swe); A Maestroni (Ita); F
Andersson Hed (Swe); G Orr (Sco); M Jonzon (Swe); E Canonica (Ita); D
Geminiani (Ita); R McEvoy (Eng); M Wiegele (Aut); S
Khan (Eng); B Koepka (USA); S Pitoni (am) (Ita);
74 G Havret (Fra); G Boyd (Eng); A
Zemmer (Ita); S Henry (Sco); J Sjöholm (Swe); C Doak (Sco); G Maybin
(Nir); S Little (Eng); J Kruger (RSA); R Jacquelin (Fra); L Gagli
(Ita); T Levet (Fra); P Erofejeff (Fin); M Foster (Eng);
75 R Bland (Eng); O Fisher (Eng); M
Lampert (Ger); D Dixon (Eng); L Jensen (Den); R Ramsay (Sco); C
Macaulay (Sco); P Sjöland (Swe); A Kaleka (Fra); F Laporta (Ita); S
Dodd (Wal); J Lara (Esp); D Duval (USA); S Jin-Oh (Kor); A Snobeck
(Fra);
76 S Chowrasia (Ind); J Morrison (Eng); S Hansen (Den); L Guanti (Ita); M Miloro (Ita); E Amacher (am) (Sui);
77 A Romano (Ita); L Scotto (Ita); M Lundberg (Swe); K Horne (RSA); M Hoey (Nir); T Haylock (Eng);
78 J Gonnet (Fra);
80 G Lockerbie (Eng);
94 C Stumpo (am) (USA);
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