European Tour report

Wind-tamer Gros leads BMW Open with a 68

Sébastien Gros got the better of the windy conditions at Golf Club Gut Laerchenhof to take a slender one-shot lead into the second round of the BMW International Open in northern Germany.

The high winds posed a challenge across the field on the opening day in Pulheim, but the Frenchman kept a near-perfect card - with a bogey on the 17^th the only blemish - to record a four under par round of 68.

He had been two shots ahead until that dropped shot and could have ended the day in a share of the lead but for Spaniard Jorge Campillo’s bogey on the last, but Gros remains just ahead of the chasing pack of Campillo, Scotland's Scott Jamieson, Englishman Aaron Rai and Swede Henric Sturehed on three under par.
Swede Christofer Blomstrand, Chilean pair Nico Geyger and Mark Tullo, England's David Howell, Frenchman Victor Perez and local favourite Nicolai von Dellingshausen are one shot further back at two under par.

It was a tough day for the marquee groups, with 2017 Masters Tournament Champion Sergio Garcia finishing on one over par, while home favourite and two-time Major winner Martin Kaymer managed to go one shot better in the same group, thanks in part to a crowd-pleasing chip-in on the third hole.
Reigning Race to Dubai Champion Tommy Fleetwood posted a two over par round of 74 in the company of four-time Major winner Ernie Els, who birdied the last to get to one under par.
Player quotes
Sébastien Gros: “Today was very special because the conditions were quite brutal. There was a lot of wind, sometimes a three-club wind, so it's a good start. It's just Thursday so no need to start thinking about anything, it's just a good round, and we'll try to take enough confidence out of this round to keep going for the rest of the week.
“Maybe it's not a course for long hitters but I haven't been hitting driver that much and this wind can make you play the holes a bit differently so I've just tried to take care of the wind and just keep the ball in play.
“If we got 72 holes with this wind, it could be our US Open just after the US Open. You have to keep the ball in play and you have to be good on the greens, especially with the wind.

“The putt on 12 was a key moment for today because I just never thought this ball could get in but it was like a magnet. That was a good bonus, I had a few bonuses at the start - two very long putts on the first two so the putter has been working today, I just hope it will keep me smiling all week.”

Aaron Rai “It was tricky all day today. The wind never really sat down for all 18 holes, so very pleased with that score. I think anything around par would be a good score today.
“I think the saves are just as important as making birdies so yeah it is nice to drop as few shots as possible, especially in these kind of conditions because you're not going to make many birdies. Par saves and just taking your chances when they come along are important.
“It's been very difficult. It's very narrow off the tees and it's important to hit the fairways so you have to be pretty precise on where the wind is coming from to give yourself the best chance of doing that. Tee to green, it's very demanding.”

Jorge Campillo: “It was a tough day, quite windy, the rough was high up. The greens were getting firmer and firmer with this wind. It was a great day, I played solid, I got a few good up and downs. It's not nice to finish with bogey, but still a good round.
“You have to be patient and just see where the wind is coming from. You know everyone is going to miss shots. You just need to try to keep the ball in play. It's a tough thing to do in this wind, but I think it's a fun course to play.
“I haven't played good the last few weeks but today I played OK, I feel like my game is back and I can have another good week.”

Scott Jamieson: “I would probably chalk that up as one of my best putting rounds ever. I felt really good on the greens, I hit my lines really well, obviously had a decent feel for the pace.
“I think it's easier to manage your expectations on tough days. When you get out of position you realise that bogey isn't a horrendous score because you know there will be a lot of bogeys out there. Quite often in Germany the score can be really low, and we're on a soft golf course, but that's not the case this week.
“The course is playing fantastic, it's a great set up, it’s tough. The wind today obviously made the golf course extremely tough. “

Martin Kaymer: “I just saw the chip in on three there on TV. It was always right and then the wind took it and it went straight into the hole. Especially for me recently I felt like I had so many bad breaks, so I take it and I move on and really use it in a positive way for me. A couple of holes later I could make a couple of birdies so it was a real momentum changer for me.
“It was a challenge but it was very fair. If you hit good shots you really needed to control your spin, your trajectory of the golf shot. So it was challenging, but we are supposed to be the best players in the world, so if somebody can do it we are supposed to do it. It was playable, there were some decent scores out there.”
Round one scores
par 72

68 S Gros (Fra)69 H Sturehed (Swe) , J Campillo (Esp) , S Jamieson (Sco) , A Rai (Eng) 70 D Howell (Eng) , M Tullo (Chi) , N Geyger (Chi) , N Von Dellingshausen (Ger) , C Blomstrand (Swe) , V Perez (Fra) 71 A Sullivan (Eng) , A Romero (Arg) , A Otaegui (Esp) , S Hend (Aus) , W Ormsby (Aus) , E Els (RSA) , N Elvira (Esp) , M Korhonen (Fin) , J Quesne (Fra) , T Detry (Bel) , M Kieffer (Ger) 72 E Johansen (Nor) , C Wood (Eng) , L Bjerregaard (Den) , C Mivis (Bel) , M Kaymer (Ger) , S Kjeldsen (Den) , C Paisley (Eng) , N Cullen (Aus) , M Schwab (Aut) , R Sterne (RSA) , D Horsey (Eng) , M Foster (Eng) 73 L De Jager (RSA) , T Pieters (Bel) , C Hanson (Eng) , J Lima (Por) , S Garcia (Esp) , C Bezuidenhout (SAf) , S Jaeger (Ger) , S Horsfield (Eng) , M Wallace (Eng) , G Fernandez - Castaño (Esp) , T Olesen (Den) , J Heath (Eng) , A Chesters (Eng) , L Canter (Eng) , A Connelly (Can) , L Herbert (Aus) , D Im (USA) , B Dredge (Wal) , H Porteous (RSA) , G Bourdy (Fra) 74 L Gagli (Ita) , M Warren (Sco) , C Syme (Sco) , J Wang (Kor) , C Ford (Eng) , B Hafthorsson (Isl) , J Kolbing (Ger) , L Jensen (Den) , J Dantorp (Swe) , D Lipsky (USA) , R Jacquelin (Fra) , E Molinari (Ita) , Y Liu (Chn) , P Khongwatmai (Tha) , J Sjöholm (Swe) , A Bland (Aus) , R Echenique (Arg) , P Hanson (Swe) , T Fleetwood (Eng) , T Jaidee (Tha) , J Stalter (Fra) 75 J Suri (USA) , B Neil (Sco) , A Pavan (Ita) , C Koepka (USA) , F Aguilar (Chi) , O Fisher (Eng) , P Widegren (Swe) , G Green (Malaysia) , M Schneider (Ger) , M Baldwin (Eng) , S Heisele (Ger) , S Fernandez () , D Drysdale (Sco) , F Fritsch (Ger) , C Pigem (Esp) , P Angles (Esp) , P Peterson (USA) , C Shinkwin (Eng) , S Han (USA) ,76 A Hansen (Den) , T Aiken (RSA) , R Gouveia (Por) , M Schmitt (Ger) , A Knappe (Ger) , J Guerrier (Fra) , M Kinhult (Swe) , J Walters (RSA) , J Norris (Aus) , M Nixon (Eng) , A Björk (Swe) , H Arkenau (Ger) , G Havret (Fra) , A Quiros (Esp) , J Kunzenbacher (Ger) , T Lewis (Eng) , M Siem (Ger) , P McBride (Irl) 77 M Fraser (Aus) , J Winther (Den) , R Bland (Eng) , C Braeunig  (Ger) , S Lee (Kor) , R McGowan (Eng) , A Saddier (Fra) , S Gallacher (Sco) , J Thomson (Eng) , J Geary (Nzl) , R McEvoy (Eng) , Z Lombard (RSA) 78 R Karlsson (Swe) , J Choi (SKor) , E Pepperell (Eng) , M Manassero (Ita) , M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) , S Brown (Eng) , B Ritthammer (Ger) , M Kramer (Ger) , P Oriol (Esp) , N Bertasio (Ita) 79 B Stone (RSA) , D Brooks (Eng) , J Edfors (Swe) , A Cañizares (Esp) , Ó Serna (Mex) , L Slattery (Eng) , H Long (am) (Ger) 80 S Chawrasia (Ind) , S Einhaus (Ger) ,81 O Farr (Wal) , J Kruyswijk (SAf) , J Donaldson (Wal) , Y Miyazato (Jpn) , M Hirmer (am) (Ger) 82 R Cho (SKor) , R Paratore (Ita) , J Olazábal (Esp) , J Zunic (Aus) 83 F Fleer (Ger) , C Sordet (Fra) 85 S Brazel (Aus) ** S Khan (Eng) ,