Nordea Masters: Three share lead at five under, with Henrik Stenson three back
Thursday 4 June 2015 22:10, UK
World number four Henrik Stenson made a solid start to his bid for a first European Tour title on home soil, but found himself upstaged by compatriot Marcus Kinhult, an 18-year-old amateur ranked world No 1,273.
Stenson carded an opening 70 in the Nordea Masters at PGA Sweden National to lie three shots behind Kinhult and fellow Swede Jens Dantorp, as well as England's Chris Paisley.
Kinhult was one over par after eight holes but birdied six of his remaining ten holes to storm in to a share of the lead, while Dantorp recovered from a bogey on his opening hole to card four birdies and an eagle to be the first player of the day to post a five-under 67.
"It's pretty special to play in a European Tour event and to be playing here in Sweden," Kinhult said. " It was solid from tee to green and I made a lot of putts, for birdie and par. The putter was pretty hot on the back nine."
Stenson has struggled with numerous illnesses this year but is likely to be satisfied with an opening 70 at PGA Sweden National, with gusting winds making scoring difficult for the early starters.
Starting on the back nine, the Ryder Cup star delighted the home crowds in Malmo with birdies on the 11th and 12th, only to bogey the 13th and 17th and reach the turn in level par.
The Swede, whose group was being monitored for slow play, got back under par with a birdie on the first but had to wait until the eighth for his next gain, two-putting from more than 80 feet from short of the green on the par-five.
A wild drive on the 18th was followed by a pulled approach into a greenside bunker, but Stenson produced a superb recovery shot back towards the water to the right of the green to save par.
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Nine players share fourth place on four under, including English duo Tom Lewis and Lee Slattery, who experienced similar windy conditions in last week's Irish Open.
"We seem to have had a lot of wind the last few weeks and it was more of the same today," Slattery said. "After last week it felt a bit easier, but four under is still a good score."
Veteran Miguel Angel Jimenez got off to a flying start with three successive birdies, but went on to drop shots at four of his next five holes to end the opening round one over, with defending champion Thongchai Jaidee alongside him after three bogeys on a error-filled back nine.
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