Price secures narrow first day  lead in Russia

Tournament: VTB Russian Open Golf Championship (Senior) Venue: Moscow Country Club, Moscow

This image of Phillip Price is displayed by courtesy of  Getty Images Phillip Price leads the VTB Russian Open Golf Championship (Senior) on four under par after posting a bogey-free 68 on Day One at Moscow Country Club. The Welshman carefully navigated the testing course in the Russian capital to take the sole lead heading into the weekend, a shot ahead of Irishman Brendan McGovern and Spaniard Miguel Angel Martin who both signed for three under par rounds of 69. Price was one of only two players to post blemish free rounds on Day One – the other being Andrew Oldcorn – and he believes his leaderboard-topping round was courtesy of playing ‘tidy’ golf and avoiding the many hazards at Moscow Country Club. “It was really steady, it was just tidy golf,” Price said. “I didn’t have a bogey, which was nice, and I just played solid all day. “The course was quite soft but gettable if you play well. You have to hit a lot of short irons in but if you miss your shots then it poses problems. It’s a bit of risk and reward. “You’ve got to drive it straight. If you miss the fairway, all of a sudden you’re either chipping out or you’ve got an awkward shot with a lot of water and a lot of hazards around. If you drive it well, you should set yourself up nicely. “I thought somebody would shoot lower than four under today because you can hit a lot of short irons but, if you start missing a few shots, then it gets awkward out there.” After finishing in a tie for 32nd place at The Senior Open last month, Price secured a tied ninth finish at Staysure PGA Seniors Championship and he is aiming for a good end to the season, starting in Moscow this weekend. “I’ve probably been a little quiet the last month so I’m looking to get myself back up there,” he said. “I want a good finish to the season. We’ve got about eight events left so I need a good one this week to get myself going. “I just want to keep doing the same thing. I’ve got to four under and I’m probably going to have to get to ten to win so I’ve got two days to get myself to ten under par.” Martin and McGovern share second place at the end of Day One thanks to three birdies apiece on the back nine, with the Irishman recovering exceptionally well after carding a double bogey and a bogey in his first three holes. Five players­­­ are a shot further back on two under par, including WINSTONgolf Senior Open champion Stephen Dodd, who bounced back from three consecutive bogeys to start his back nine with an eagle three and a birdie two on the 15th and 16th holes, respectively. Alongside Dodd on two under par is the quartet of James Kingston, Bill Longmuir, Oldcorn and former European Tour Number One Ronan Rafferty, while a further eight players sit on one under par after their first rounds. Scores after Round One: par 72 68 P Price (Wales) 69 B McGovern (Ire) , M Martin (Spn). 70 S Dodd (Wales) , R Rafferty (NIre), A Oldcorn (Sco) , B Longmuir (Sco) , J Kingston (SAf)  71 T Thelen (USA) , M Harwood (Australia) , P Eales (Eng) , D Shacklady (Eng) , S Luna (Spn) , J Coceres (Argentina) , M Mackenzie (Eng) , N Job (Eng) 72 M Molina (Argentina), G Marks (Eng) , A Sherborne (Eng) , S Brown (Eng) , C Suneson (Spn) , P Fowler (Australia) , P Streeter (Eng) , J Sallat (Fra) , M Farry (Fra) 73 G Manson (Austria) , G Wolstenholme (Eng) , P Golding (Eng) , C Williams (SAf) , S Tinning (Denmark) , J Lomas (Eng), P Wesselingh (Eng) 74 P Wilson (Eng) , J Cheetham (Eng) , G Emerson (Eng) 75 M Atlevi (Swe) , M Wharton (Eng) , J Quiros (Esp) , S Richardson (Eng) 76 B Conser (USA) , J Murphy (Eng) , D Edlund (Swe) , A Franco (Paraguay). 77 S Bennett (Eng) , J Carriles (Spn) 78 M Nichols (Eng) , M Mouland (Wales) , S McAllister (Sco)  79 C Monasterio (Arg) , 81 J Evans (Sco) , G Joyner (Australia). 82 M Davis (Eng)   83 R Gomez (Arg)   87 G Fetisov (Rus) (am) 88 J Robinson (Eng)