The Dane signed for a 62 earlier this season at the Gran Canaria Lopesan Open and he matched it at Golf Santa Ponsa to get to eight under par and stay ahead of South African Bryce Easton and Swede Niklas Lemke.
After an opening bogey, Winther had reeled off ten birdies by the time he reached the 17th, where he dropped a shot after finding thick rough off the tee.
Winther followed his 62 on Gran Canaria in April with a 64 and, when you add a 63 at the 2019 Open de España, four of his seven lowest European Tour rounds have come on Spanish soil.
Home favourite Alvaro Quiros recorded his lowest round since the 2019 Dubai Desert Classic as he battles to keep his card, with his six under par 64 matched by compatriot Jorge Campillo and German pair Bernd Ritthammer and Matti Schmid.
Player Quotes
Jeff Winther:Â Very pleased. Played with two great guys today (Matthieu Pavon and Victor Dubuisson), we had a lot of fun out there, so it was lovely.
I didn’t have any expectations going into this week, got my family here so we are just trying to enjoy it. I took the whole day off yesterday, didn’t touch a club. Warmed up on the range where we can only hit five irons. Apparently, that’s the way to do it.
I just pulled the drive a little bit (on 17) and got into deep, deep rough. I was in there in the practice round as well so I knew it was quite thick. Decided not to hit it, dropped it back bogey from there.
Niklas Lemke:Â The course is pretty straightforward, but always nice to go bogey-free. The game has been feeling pretty good. Hit a terrible tee shot on the first and made par, after that it was pretty solid. One of those days where you feel in control. I had a bad warm-up but felt pretty good on the golf course.
I made two good putts on 17 and 18, 18 was pretty tricky but I had a good feeling for it so it was nice to end with birdie.
I heard on the driving range this morning that it was going to rain a lot tonight and tomorrow. We’ll see how the golf course holds up. I’m prepared that it might be a bit bumpy on the greens tomorrow afternoon, but you just have to go out and play, have some fun.
Alvaro Quiros:Â I have played nicely. At some stages we made a few mistakes because the wind was swirling and changing direction, but I’ve been able to build.
Everybody knows how I’ve been playing this year, so my expectations are only day by day and trying to keep my card, even though I still have far to go to keep it. On a daily basis it’s just giving the best that I have, nothing else.
The fairways are playing solid, so I guess they will become longer with the rain. About the greens, we will see, unfortunately the rain will make them maybe too soft, but we can’t do much about the weather, so we will see.
Round One Scores
62 J WINTHER (DEN),
63 N LEMKE (SWE), B EASTON (RSA),
64 A QUIROS (ESP), B RITTHAMMER (GER), M SCHMID (GER), J CAMPILLO (ESP),
65 P ANGLES (ESP), J SJ?HOLM (SWE), G FDEZ-CASTA?O (ESP), N BERTASIO (ITA), J JANEWATTANANOND (THA), Z LOMBARD (RSA),
66 J PASTOR (ESP), Z BAI (CHN), A SADDIER (FRA), A JOHNSTON (ENG), E PEPPERELL (ENG), J CALDWELL (NIR), C SYME (SCO), S GARCIA RODRIGUEZ (ESP), A COCKERILL (CAN), M PAVON (FRA), S SODERBERG (SWE), A WU (CHN), R ENOCH (WAL),
67 J CATLIN (USA), N ELVIRA (ESP), L BJERREGAARD (DEN), R LANGASQUE (FRA), T AIKEN (RSA), J GEARY (NZL), J HANSEN (DEN), R KARLBERG (SWE), A OTAEGUI (ESP), J GONNET (FRA), V DUBUISSON (FRA), A CA?IZARES (ESP), S CROCKER (USA), P DUNNE (IRL), C PIGEM (ESP), J KRUYSWIJK (RSA),
68 T PIETERS (BEL), L CANTER (ENG), E DE LA RIVA (ESP), J SENIOR (ENG), D WHITNELL (ENG), R PARATORE (ITA), M KAYMER (GER), O FARR (WAL), R ROUSSEL (FRA), L VAN MEIJEL (NED), J WRISDALE (ENG), M KINHULT (SWE), G GREEN (MAS), O WILSON (ENG),
69 M SCHMITT (GER), B HEBERT (FRA), G BOURDY (FRA), R RAMSAY (SCO), M JORDAN (ENG), O FISHER (ENG), S KJELDSEN (DEN), L DE JAGER (RSA), G PORTEOUS (ENG),
70 K REITAN (NOR), B EVANS (ENG), M SIEM (GER), J STALTER (FRA), S KIM (USA), J MORRISON (ENG), L GAGLI (ITA), M SOUTHGATE (ENG), T TREE (ENG), D PERRIER (FRA), O LIESER (CZE), R MCGOWAN (ENG), J LUITEN (NED), R FOX (NZL), M LORENZO-VERA (FRA), R MANSELL (ENG),
71 N KEARNEY (IRL), W NIENABER (RSA), A CHESTERS (ENG), D HOWELL (ENG), L SLATTERY (ENG), J SMITH (ENG), C SHARVIN (NIR), D YOUNG (SCO), A BJ?RK (SWE), A ARNAUS (ESP), N VON DELLINGSHAUSEN (GER), S HEND (AUS), P FIGUEIREDO (POR), D DRYSDALE (SCO),
72 G HAVRET (FRA), R SANTOS (POR), D VAN DRIEL (NED), R WATTEL (FRA), M ANTCLIFF (AUS), R SCIOT-SIEGRIST (FRA), G BHULLAR (IND),
73 T FERRER (ESP), C SORDET (FRA), E CUARTERO BLANCO (ESP), D COUPLAND (ENG), F KENNEDY (AM) (ENG),
74 J FAHRBRING (SWE), T KOIVISTO (USA), M GALIANO AGUILAR (ESP), P LARRAZ?BAL (ESP), B POKE (DEN), S DEL VAL (ESP), M FORD (ENG), L JOHNSTON (SCO),
75 P ERIKSSON (SWE), R MCEVOY (ENG),
77 G MOYNIHAN (IRL), V MIRON (AM) (ESP),
82 H PORTEOUS (RSA),
