Round One Report
Maverick Antcliff and Henrik Stenson share the first-round lead at the D+D REAL Czech Masters after carding five under par rounds of 67 at Albatross Golf Resort.
Stenson made a perfect start in the Czech capital as he hopes to force his way into Ryder Cup contention with strong performances in the final four counting qualification events. It is the first time the 45-year-old has held or shared a first round lead on the European Tour since the start of the 2017 season.
The highlight of the Swede’s bogey-free round came on the par five ninth hole as he hit his second shot with his famed three wood to within three feet, tapping in for eagle. Antcliff, of Australia, moved to five under par with his sixth birdie of the day on the par four 17th hole.
Nine competitors share third on four under par, including home favourite Ondřej Lieser, who recovered from bogeys on his opening two holes, 2016 champion Paul Peterson of the United States and 2016 Masters Tournament winner Danny Willett, who is also staking a claim for a place in Pádraig Harrington’s team at Whistling Straits next month.
Player Quotes
Henrik Stenson: “I’m very happy with the score. I hit some really good shots, on nine in particular, those two good ones. There were a couple of swings I’m not overly happy with – my commitment – I’ve been working hard on the swing, I need to keep on working hard. I still managed to miss in the right places and kept it tidy around the greens and the putter was working fine today. I’m happy with the score and the progress I’m making. Commitment can be a little better and confidence can definitely be a little bit better.
“Nine, I hit a really good drive off the tee and it left me all of a three wood left. That was one of the best three woods I’ve hit for years and years. I hit a really good one in the Pro-Am as well, so it was copy and paste and it’s nice to have a three-footer for eagle.”
Maverick Antcliff: “It was nice. I got off to a solid start and tried to keep things moving forward – trying to feed off all the good stuff from last week.
“I think last week there was a lot of good stuff, just finished Saturday Sunday not as well as I’d have liked – a lot of positives. Just trying to stay patient, it’s all the clichés – patience, taking it one shot at a time, staying present, that’s what I tried to do today really.”
Ondřej Lieser: “What I felt, you can see on the first two holes – I hit the two worst wedges I’ve hit for a long time. I was shaking. Playing with these two legends, it blew me away. I couldn’t sleep for the last three days. It was a nice feeling; they were so nice to me. They helped me through after the tough start and then we all played solid golf. It was nice to catch them, make some birdies and from the fourth hole I felt comfortable being there with them.”
Paul Peterson: “It was solid from tee to green. I hit some beautiful iron shots on the front and was able to roll a couple in – I thought I might go for four in a row on ten, it just went off to the right on me. I felt like I played beautifully all day. It’s always fun to have a clean card. It felt good out there, I think I missed one fairway…I don’t think I chipped today, so that was good. I felt like I was in control of the ball.”
Danny Willett: “A little bit up and down: seven birdies, a bogey and a double. Lots of good and a couple of iffy ones we got punished for. A nice start to the week. I played yesterday, it’s slightly different to how I remember it. A little bit more defined. I was intrigued to see how scoring would go, with a bit of wind over the last three days – kind of what I thought. Scores around here are notoriously quite low, it’ll maybe be slightly higher this year with how the wind and the weather has been.”
Scores after Round One:
67 M ANTCLIFF (AUS), H STENSON (SWE),
68 S HORSFIELD (ENG), D BURMESTER (RSA), O LIESER (CZE), T PULKKANEN (FIN), S CROCKER (USA), N H?JGAARD (DEN), P PETERSON (USA), D WILLETT (ENG), A MERONK (POL),
69 J KASKE (FIN), S HEISELE (GER), M SCHNEIDER (GER), J KRUYSWIJK (RSA), A COCKERILL (CAN), D VAN TONDER (RSA),
70 S CHAWRASIA (IND), S TILEY (ENG), D YOUNG (SCO), P ERIKSSON (SWE), R FOX (NZL), P HARRINGTON (IRL), S KAPUR (IND), R MANSELL (ENG), J RITCHIE (RSA), G STAL (FRA), P ANGLES (ESP), O FISHER (ENG), J WRISDALE (ENG), J LAGERGREN (SWE), S KJELDSEN (DEN), N LEMKE (SWE), T LEE (KOR), S SODERBERG (SWE), R MCGOWAN (ENG),
71 A PENDARIES (FRA), J VEERMAN (USA), R ROUSSEL (FRA), C SHINKWIN (ENG), Z LOMBARD (RSA), G MOYNIHAN (IRL), S KIM (USA), M POSPISIL (CZE), L SLATTERY (ENG), J JANEWATTANANOND (THA), J LUITEN (NED), R SABBATINI (SVK), N BERTASIO (ITA), V NORRMAN (SWE), M SIEM (GER), D LAWSON (AUS), N VON DELLINGSHAUSEN (GER),
72 L VAN MEIJEL (NED), A ZEMMER (ITA), L DE JAGER (RSA), D PERRIER (FRA), M SCHMITT (GER), B MACPHERSON (AUS), E CUARTERO BLANCO (ESP), S V?LIM?KI (FIN), B EVANS (ENG), T GANDY (IMN), D HOWELL (ENG), C SORDET (FRA), Y CHANG (KOR), B HENSON (USA), H PORTEOUS (RSA), F MRUZEK (CZE), B STONE (RSA), M ZAPLETAL (CZE), H LEON (CHI),
73 L JOHNSTON (SCO), J CAFOUREK (CZE), B POKE (DEN), R WATTEL (FRA), M BALDWIN (ENG), D FICHARDT (RSA), J MCLEOD (AUS), T TETAK (AM) (SVK), J GEARY (NZL),
74 D COUPLAND (ENG), A PAVAN (ITA), A ARNAUS (ESP), B EASTON (RSA), R KARLBERG (SWE), J SANDBORG (SWE), C HANNA (USA), G PORTEOUS (ENG), M FEUERSTEIN (USA), J ZUSKA (AM) (CZE), B RITTHAMMER (GER), G GREEN (MAS), R PARATORE (ITA), M BACA (AM) (CZE), J GUERRIER (FRA), A SANDHU (IND), J BARES (CZE), A KORINEK (CZE),
75 D DIXON (ENG), L TINTERA (CZE), ? ZACH (CZE), G BRIXI (CZE), M KEYSER (RSA), E DE LA RIVA (ESP), T TREE (ENG), R ENOCH (WAL),
76 L ROBINSON (ENG), S MATUS (CZE), M YOUNG (IRL), J GRENVILLE-WOOD (ENG), S DANEK (CZE), N KEARNEY (IRL), S YONGCHAROENCHAI (THA),
77 K REITAN (NOR), G COETZEE (RSA), M JELINEK (AM) (CZE), C PIGEM (ESP), T KOIVISTO (USA),
78 P MACH (AM) (SVK),
79 G KING (ENG), S GARCIA RODRIGUEZ (ESP),
80 K STRYCEK (AM) (CZE),
89 S VIDA (AM) (SVK)
