Thursday 23 April 2015 18:23, UK
David Howell continued his excellent form of last week as he earned a share of the lead after the opening round of the Volvo China Open in tough conditions in Shanghai.
The Englishman fired a four-under 68 to match the earlier efforts of Bradley Dredge and Michael Hendry, while only 24 of the 156 players in the field managed to break par on day one at the testing Tomson Shanghai Pudong Golf Club.
With the firm greens causing problems for the majority of the field, Welshman Dredge and New Zealand's Hendry were the only players to keep a bogey off their cards as they set a competitive early target in the clubhouse.
“The greens were really firm so the big thing was if you were hitting fairways you had chances,” Dredge told the European Tour. “It was never easy getting the ball close to the hole with slopes on the greens and the firmness; it was quite tricky round there."
Hendry is coming off a win on the Japan Tour last week, and he added: “It makes the game a little easier I think. It’s always nice to play tournaments when you’re in good form.”
The leading pair were joined later in the day by Howell, who offset a birdie at the first with a bogey at the third before vaulting up the leaderboard with three birdies in five holes around the turn.
The 39-year-old, who was fourth at last week's Shenzhen International, picked up another shot at 17 and then did well to get up and down with a long-range pitch-and-putt at the last.
"I'm delighted, it's a really different test this week," said Howell, who won the last of his five European Tour titles in the Dunhill Links Championship in 2013. "We knew it was firm in practice, but it was hard to work out how difficult it was going to be. The scoring showed people are finding it tricky.
"My caddie said it was almost like a linksy challenge. It couldn't be any less links-like in some ways, here we are in the middle of a city, but it is in terms of ground conditions. There's lots of putting from off the greens so it's a different test but one I was certainly looking forward to taking on."
We knew it was firm in practice, but it was hard to work out how difficult it was going to be. The scoring showed people are finding it tricky
Defending champion Alexander Levy started at the 10th and birdied three of his first five holes, but he was unable to build on his excellent start although he managed to hand in a 69 to share fourth with fellow Frenchman Julien Quesne and Australian Marcus Fraser.
"It's very good," said Levy. "The golf course is very tough, the greens are very firm so it's very difficult to put the ball close to the flag.
"It's a great three under and I am really happy with the game. The putting was good on the front nine and a little bit bad on the last nine but I feel more confidence with that and it will be good for the rest of the week.
"You need to be very patient. The par threes are very tough and sometimes you need to miss the green long or short because it's not possible to stop the ball on the green and it's nice to play a golf course like that."
Oliver Wilson overcame a rocky start to pick up three late birdies to salvage a 70 alongside the likes of Peter Uihlein and Craig Lee, while last week's Shenzhen champion Kiradech Aphibarnrat opened with a consistent, two-birdie 71.
Live coverage of the second round in Shanghai begins Friday at 5.30am on Sky Sports 4 - your home of golf.
