| Timon Baltl will take a one-shot lead into round two of the Open de Bretagne after posting a sublime seven under par round of 63 at Golf Bluegreen Pléneuf Val André.
The Austrian, making just his 19th start on the European Challenge Tour, took full advantage of the calm playing conditions in France and recorded a bogey-free round, carding five birdies and an eagle to take the lead on the first day.
The 26-year-old, who is one stroke ahead of in-form Frenchman Julien Brun, South African Jacques Blaauw and Icelander Haraldur Magnus, admitted that everything seemed to go his way today.
“It was a very, very good round,” he said. “I got it going really early with a birdie and then another birdie on the short par three 15th, I managed to chip in there, so it was a very good start to get the round going.
“I was very solid off the tee, hardly any mistakes. Into the greens I would say was good but not so great as the score would suggest, but I chipped in a couple of times which was really nice, it really went my way today.”
“You’ve got to hit good tee shots here. You have to get the ball in play and just like every golf course you’ve got to hole a few putts as well.
“There is high rough left and right basically on every hole, so you have to hit the ball straight. Today was a little bit easier than in the practice round and in the Pro-Am yesterday as it wasn’t as windy.”
Frenchman Brun, who sits one shot behind the Austrian says that there is still a lot of hard work to be done but says having the right mentality will hopefully pay off by the end of the week.
“It’s a long week,” he said. “It’s very tough mentally here; you need to be fresh and focused on every shot. There’s still three rounds to go so a lot of work to do.”
Ireland’s Cameron Raymond shares fifth place with Germany’s Marcel Siem, South African Hennie Du Plessis, Swede Hampus Bergman, Welshman David Boote and Jeong Weon Ko of France on five under par.
The second round of the Open de Bretagne will begin at 8:00am local time on Friday June 25, with Baltl teeing it up at 9:17am alongside Spaniard David Borda and Frenchman Julien Foret.
Scores after round one:
63 T BALTL (AUT),
64 H MAGNUS (ISL), J BRUN (FRA), J BLAAUW (RSA),
65 C RAYMOND (IRL), M SIEM (GER), H DU PLESSIS (RSA), H BERGMAN (SWE), D BOOTE (WAL), J KO (FRA),
66 C HANNA (USA), D HILLIER (NZL), N REGNER (AUT), S SAAVEDRA (ARG), M CALDERON (CHI), M MANASSERO (ITA),
67 J LANDO CASANOVA (FRA), M GRADECKI (POL), A ARIZABALETA (COL), F MACCARIO (ITA), A AHOUA (FRA), S TARRIO (ESP), F BERGAMASCHI (ITA), S FERNANDEZ (ESP), L CAPON (FRA),
68 J THOMSON (ENG), J GARCIA DEL MORAL (ESP), J BEKIRIAN (FRA), D HUIZING (NED), S GROS (FRA), B VIRTO (ESP), F LACROIX (FRA), J FORET (FRA), A KNAPPE (GER), P PINEAU (FRA), S HENRY (SCO), F PALSON (SWE), M RADUREAU (FRA), A GUERIN (FRA), A DEL REY (ESP), M CARLSSON (SWE), P EDBERG (SWE), A HORTAL (ESP), L NEMECZ (AUT), J MURPHY (IRL), T BESSA (POR),
69 D QUINONES (USA), C BERARDO (FRA), A LIU (FRA), P VIALLANEIX (AM) (FRA), G STAL (FRA), J ADARRAGA GOMEZ (ESP), M HONKALA (FIN), M ELVIRA (ESP), E CUARTERO BLANCO (ESP), M DECOTTIGNIES-LAFON (FRA), F DAUX (FRA), H LONG (GER), G KING (ENG), M WIEGELE (AUT), J GRIS (FRA),
70 M FENASSE (FRA), T WIDING (SWE), G BOURDY (FRA), R WATTEL (FRA), D BORDA (ESP), A AMEIL-PLANCHIN (SUI), M ORRIN (ENG), V RIU (FRA), L RIGAMONTI (AM) (ITA), M LINDBERG (SWE), F MEDALE (FRA), P MCBRIDE (IRL), H TISSERAND (FRA), R DAWSON (IRL), N LEGENDRE (AM) (FRA), L VACARISAS (ESP), S MANLEY (WAL), O BEKKER (RSA), M LAMB (ENG), P KUEST (USA), B SCHMIDT (ENG),
71 H WOAN (ENG), A PLANT (ENG), L BEM (FRA), B MOORE (ENG), D PERRIER (FRA), E DI NITTO (ITA), A BJORNSSON (ISL), J DE POYEN (FRA), G TADIOTTO (BEL), V LOPES (POR), J BOLTON (ENG), X PONCELET (FRA),
72 D RAVETTO (FRA), A DAYDOU (FRA), J JONES (CAN), M PENGE (ENG), G BLOOR (ENG), C CANNON (ENG), L WEBER (FRA), E LIPPARELLI (ITA), G MOYNIHAN (IRL), M SVENSSON (SWE), R LE BOT (FRA), A GRENIER (FRA), J YATES (IRL), I CANTERO GUTIERREZ (ESP), S MAZZOLI (ITA), C O’ROURKE (IRL),
73 R DE SOUSA (SUI), S GAUTIER (FRA), S GANDON (FRA), R LUMSDEN (SCO), A MICHAUX (FRA), I FONS PELUFO (ESP), G KRISTJANSSON (ISL), E DUBOIS (FRA), H AMSALLEM (AM) (FRA),
74 J ARNOY (NOR), V JOFFRAY (FRA), A PENDARIES (FRA), J KAHLOS (FIN), P MARGOLIS (AM) (FRA), V VEYRET (FRA),
75 M HELLIGKILDE (DEN), E KOFSTAD (NOR), N PIQUOT (AM) (FRA),
76 A PETIT (FRA), D LANGLEY (ENG), P BEAUVY (AM) (FRA), M ORTOLANI (ITA),
77 J SAINZ (ESP), P ELISSALDE (FRA), T ELISSALDE (FRA), H LEGEAY-GAUCHER (FRA),
78 G BRIXI (CZE), P LANGFORS (SWE), |
