Made In Denmark: Jonathan Thomson leads, Thorbjorn Olesen struggles

Jonathan Thomson claimed a shock lead after the opening round of the Made In Denmark, as Thorbjorn Olesen struggled on home soil.

Thomson fired the lowest round of his European Tour career with a birdie-filled 64 at Silkeborg Ry Golf Club, giving the Englishman a two-shot advantage over the chasing pack.

Lucas Bjerregaard is one of six players sharing second spot, with Jamie Donaldson part of the group on five under and Lee Westwood one of 10 players sitting four off the pace.

Top seed Olesen - who currently occupies the final Ryder Cup qualification spot - birdied two of his final three holes to stutter to a one-over 73, while English duo Matthew Fitzpatrick and Eddie Pepperell opened with rounds of 72 and 70 respectively.

"It's fantastic to get off to a great start for a change," Thomson said. "I have been playing some great golf recently but not scoring, so to get off to a low-scoring start today was great.

"It would be great for me to have a positive result this week. I had a terrible start to the season and a really positive result would give me a huge confidence boost."

Bjerregaard struck six birdies in a bogey-free start to lead the home interest, joining Matthew Baldwin, Brett Rumford, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Josh Geary and Hunter Stewart - who birdied his opening five holes - on six under.

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Five birdies in a six-hole stretch lifted Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn to a two-under 70, joining Pepperell - who needs a win this week to have a chance of automatically qualifying for Le Golf National - six off the pace.

Fitzpatrick was playing alongside Ryder Cup vice-captain Robert Karlsson, who opened with a 72 in his 600th European Tour event, while Olesen sits nine off the pace after a slow start to the week.

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Watch the Made In Denmark throughout the week live on Sky Sports. Live coverage continues on Friday from 10.30am on Sky Sports Golf.