CHALLENGE TOUR REPORT AND SCORES
GREAT DANE JENSEN SHOOTS 11-UNDER
61 IN GENEVA: HENRY TOP SCOT ON 69
EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
61 IN GENEVA: HENRY TOP SCOT ON 69
EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Lasse Jensen rode a wave of Danish goodwill en route to an exemplary opening round of 61 and a two stroke lead
over South Korea’s Byeong-hun An at the Rolex Trophy at Golf Club de Geneve, Switzerland.
Fresh from a star turn at his home event on The European Tour last week – Made in Denmark – where he finished in a tie for seventh, the 2012 Qualifying School graduate fired 11 unanswered birdies on Wednesday to finish atop the leaderboard.
Earlier in the season Jensen finished runner up to South Africa’s Jake Roos at the Barclays Kenya Open, which tied his previous best European Challenge Tour finish from 2012, and he is now ideally placed to go one better with three rounds to play in this pro-am event.
Some might have seen their amateurs as a distraction this week, but not the Dane, with Jensen seeing his junior playing partners as one of the reasons he went so low on day one.
“I hit it very close all day and I just made all the putts,” said the man at 23rd on the Challenge Tour Rankings. “It was just a day where everything went right and I couldn't do anything wrong. I am just really happy to have shot 11 under, that is unbelievable, and a great start to the week.
“Playing with the juniors today was maybe an advantage for me, as I was a bit more relaxed and a bit more casual, because we were laughing and I was forgetting how well it was going. If I had played with three other pros, maybe it would have been a different story.
“I was just trying to have some fun with my partner Marc, so it was a very calm day, even though I shot 11 under. Actually the only putt I made a little fist pump on was the last hole, as the rest of the time we were just walking on the course and everything was normal.”
Just a couple back, after an impressive opening round of his own is An, who continues to play well this season as he looks to secure a place on The European Tour at the third time of asking.
His position on the Ranking has improved year on year, and after four top ten finishes so far in 2014 – including a couple of runners-up places at both the Kärnten Golf Open presented by Mazda and Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge – the South Korean is handily placed once again to pick up a maiden trophy.
“This week is going to be a short game contest as the course is not very long, so you have to be accurate with your wedges, and you have to make sure you hole plenty of putts from inside ten feet to score your best.”
Just a shot further back is Frenchman Michael Lorenzo-Vera, after an eight under par score for the first 18 holes saw him continue a resurgence in form that goes back to a runner-up finish at the Azerbaijan Open Golf Challenge a few weeks ago.
He is currently eighth on the season-long Rankings, and is in good position to improve upon that as he looks to earn a return to The Race to Dubai.
The English pair of Sam Hutsby (65) and Andrew Johnston (66) are also handily placed in fourth and fifth place respectively, as the former looks for a first win on the second tier, and the latter looks to add a third of the season to his victory haul. Damian Ulrich is the only home grown player in the field, but he got off to a solid start after a round of 67. He is in a four way tie for sixth place alongside the French trio of Cyril Bouniol, Edouard Espana and 2011 Rolex Trophy winner Benjamin Hebert.
Fresh from a star turn at his home event on The European Tour last week – Made in Denmark – where he finished in a tie for seventh, the 2012 Qualifying School graduate fired 11 unanswered birdies on Wednesday to finish atop the leaderboard.
Earlier in the season Jensen finished runner up to South Africa’s Jake Roos at the Barclays Kenya Open, which tied his previous best European Challenge Tour finish from 2012, and he is now ideally placed to go one better with three rounds to play in this pro-am event.
Some might have seen their amateurs as a distraction this week, but not the Dane, with Jensen seeing his junior playing partners as one of the reasons he went so low on day one.
“I hit it very close all day and I just made all the putts,” said the man at 23rd on the Challenge Tour Rankings. “It was just a day where everything went right and I couldn't do anything wrong. I am just really happy to have shot 11 under, that is unbelievable, and a great start to the week.
“Playing with the juniors today was maybe an advantage for me, as I was a bit more relaxed and a bit more casual, because we were laughing and I was forgetting how well it was going. If I had played with three other pros, maybe it would have been a different story.
“I was just trying to have some fun with my partner Marc, so it was a very calm day, even though I shot 11 under. Actually the only putt I made a little fist pump on was the last hole, as the rest of the time we were just walking on the course and everything was normal.”
Just a couple back, after an impressive opening round of his own is An, who continues to play well this season as he looks to secure a place on The European Tour at the third time of asking.
His position on the Ranking has improved year on year, and after four top ten finishes so far in 2014 – including a couple of runners-up places at both the Kärnten Golf Open presented by Mazda and Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge – the South Korean is handily placed once again to pick up a maiden trophy.
“This week is going to be a short game contest as the course is not very long, so you have to be accurate with your wedges, and you have to make sure you hole plenty of putts from inside ten feet to score your best.”
Just a shot further back is Frenchman Michael Lorenzo-Vera, after an eight under par score for the first 18 holes saw him continue a resurgence in form that goes back to a runner-up finish at the Azerbaijan Open Golf Challenge a few weeks ago.
He is currently eighth on the season-long Rankings, and is in good position to improve upon that as he looks to earn a return to The Race to Dubai.
The English pair of Sam Hutsby (65) and Andrew Johnston (66) are also handily placed in fourth and fifth place respectively, as the former looks for a first win on the second tier, and the latter looks to add a third of the season to his victory haul. Damian Ulrich is the only home grown player in the field, but he got off to a solid start after a round of 67. He is in a four way tie for sixth place alongside the French trio of Cyril Bouniol, Edouard Espana and 2011 Rolex Trophy winner Benjamin Hebert.
Rolex Trophy - Round One Scores
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par 72
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 61 L Jensen (Den) 63 B An (SKor) 64 M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 65 S Hutsby (Eng) 66 A Johnston (Eng) 67 C Bouniol (Fra) , E Espana (Fra) , B Hebert (Fra) , D Ulrich (Sui) , 68 S Brown (Eng), B Åkesson (Swe) , A Bernadet (Fra), T Pilkadaris (Aus) , J Roos (RSA) , F Fritsch (Ger) , A Hortal (Esp) 69 S Henry (Sco) , J Lando Casanova (Fra), J Garcia Pinto (Esp) , M Fitzpatrick (Eng) , M Tullo (Chi) , P Relecom (Bel) , C Shinkwin (Eng) , 70 R Coles (Eng) , L Gagli (Ita) , M Delpodio (Ita) , A McArthur (Sco) , J Fahrbring (Swe) , D Gaunt (Eng) , J Barnes (Eng) , W Harrold (Eng) 71 D Coupland (Eng), T Linard (Fra) , A Marshall (Eng) , A Tadini (Ita) , F Bergamaschi (Ita), J Huldahl (Den) , P Widegren (Swe) 72 C Arendell (US), O Farr (Wal) 74 C Aguilar (Esp) , J Palmer (Eng) 75 P Oriol (Esp) 76 N Quintarelli (Ita) |
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Labels: CHALLENGE TOUR
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Wednesday, August 20, 2014
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