Tommy Fleetwood among Ryder Cup stars to make strong starts at European Masters
Thursday 29 August 2019 19:14, UK
Tommy Fleetwood produced a superb back-nine recovery as he ended the opening day of the 80th Omega European Masters just two shots off the lead.
Fleetwood was one over after eight holes before making six birdies to card an impressive five-under 65 as Matthias Schwab and Mike Lorenzo-Vera shared the first-round lead at Crans-sur-Sierre.
Sergio Garcia, who owns a house next to the course, enjoyed a strong start with a 66, while FedExCup champion Rory McIlroy's first round in the event since losing a play-off to Jean-Francois Lucquin 11 years ago was a steady 67.
Schwab set a testing early target at seven-under par, the Austrian making five birdies in a classy six-hole stretch to the turn before picking up two more shots on the inward half while also keeping the mistakes at bay.
He looked set to retain the outright lead until Lorenzo-Vera joined him in the clubhouse lead late in the day, recovering from a double-bogey at the fourth with three birdies in four holes around the turn.
The Frenchman then surged into a tie at the top with a sensational burst of scoring, with birdies at 13, 15 and 16 around an eagle at the 14th, and the leading pair ended the day one stroke clear of Mikko Korhonen, Sebastian Soderberg and Loranzo Gagli.
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Korhonen's entertaining 64 featured two hole-outs for eagle twos, four consecutive birdies from the 12th, but also two bogeys and one double-bogey, while Gagli also had a pair of eagles as he made it a three-way share of second.
Fleetwood parred the first seven holes and then dropped a shot at the eighth, but his response was admirable as he followed a birdie at nine with five more over the next eight holes which propelled him to five under alongside the likes of David Drysdale and 2014 Ryder Cup winner, Jamie Donaldson.
Last week's Scandinavian Invitation winner Erik van Rooyen raced to within one of the lead when he made his sixth birdie of the day at the 12th, but the South African ran up a six at the long 14th and then found water with his approach to the last, although he did well to salvage a bogey and return a 65.
Garcia was one of only three players in the field to hand in a bogey-free card, the Spaniard rolling in four birdies in a 66 which matched the earlier, error-free effort from Lee Slattery, while McIlroy was one of a host of big names on three under.
Just four days after landing a $15m jackpot for his dominant four-shot victory at the Tour Championship, McIlroy mixed six birdies with three bogeys as he, understandably appeared a little jaded following his exploits in Atlanta.
Playing partner Lee Westwood, Thomas Pieters and former champions Miguel Angel Jimenez and Luke Donald also fired 67s, while Matt Fitzpatrick's bid for a third consecutive victory in the event got off to an erratic start as he offset five birdies with two bogeys and one double-bogey at the 12th.
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