A low-scoring first round at Golfclub München Eichenried ended with five players sharing the lead at the BMW International Open – and 18 more within two shots.
England’s Marco Penge, Malaysia’s Gavin Green, China’s Wenyi Ding, the Netherlands’ Darius van Driel and France’s Ugo Coussaud each carded five-under-par 67s.
On a day that rewarded aggressive play, Penge bounced back from a rollercoaster front nine that included a double-bogey at the par-five 18th – after finding water twice – with four birdies on the back nine to set the early clubhouse target.
Green made a fast start with a bogey-free front nine that included birdies at the 11th, 12th, 14th and 18th. After a dropped shot at the 4th, he climbed back into a share of the lead by tapping in for birdie at the 6th.
China’s Ding made eagle at the 18th before back-to-back bogeys at the 1st and 2nd briefly derailed his momentum. He closed with birdies at the 5th, 6th, 8th and 9th for a strong finish.
Van Driel opened with birdies at the 11th and 12th, overcame a bogey at the 13th, and picked up further shots at the 15th, 18th, 6th and 9th.
Coussaud produced the round of the day – a flawless 67 – that featured birdies at the 16th, 17th, 4th, 5th and 9th, thanks to a red-hot putter.
Eighteen players are within two shots of the lead, with overnight rain and forecast thunderstorms expected to soften conditions for the second round.
Trailing the leaders by one are England’s Nathan Kimsey, Richard Mansell and Jordan Smith, Scotland’s Scott Jamieson, Japan’s Yuto Katsuragawa, France’s David Ravetto and Sweden’s Mikael Lindberg.
Another 10 players sit at three under, including Scots Richie Ramsay and Grant Forrest, Austria’s Matthias Schwab, France’s Clément Sordet, Norway’s Kristoffer Reitan, American Davis Bryant, Portugal’s Ricardo Gouveia, Spain’s David Puig, South Africa’s Wilco Nienaber and Dutchman Joost Luiten.
– Edited report from DP World Tour website
Photo: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
