Brooks Koepka, Matt Haines, Roland Steiner and Bjorn Åkesson share the lead at the Finnish Challenge
Brooks Koepka, who recently turned pro and started playing on the European Challenge Tour, grabbed a share of the Finnish Challenge lead with a bogey-free 67, on Thursday in southern Finland.
Koepka carded four birdies in his round at the South East Course, at Kytäjä Golf, and set an early benchmark for the remaining players in the field. Later on, Matt Haines, Roland Steiner and Bjorn Åkesson also joined him at the top.
Haines was another player to record a bogey-free round with a top position on the leaderboard. Meanwhile, Steiner had the best birdie-streak of the day, as he recorded five straight birdies, starting from the 12th hole.
Despite the fact that he shared the lead in the early stages of the tournament, he was a little disappointed about the missed birdie opportunities on the par-five holes.
“It was great out there,” said Koepka. “I really didn’t have any chances to make a bogey today. The only disappointment was that I played the par fives in level par, but four under is a good start. Things are going well so far and I’m having a great time.
I played in the US Open as an amateur and then came over to Europe and turned professional”.
While talking about his performance on the Challenge Tour, he expressed his satisfaction on how he has played so far in three events on sponsor exemption.
His best finish came last week when he tied for the seventh position in the English Challenge. It also earned him a ticket to Finland, where the Nordic region’s three-leg swing made its first stop.
“I’ve played okay so far, and I’m just hoping to improve every week and get the hang of it. I decided to come to Europe because I just wanted to play, and this gives me the best opportunity to do that and prepare for the Q-School”.
Haines, who performed poorly during his rookie year on the European Tour in 2011, also tied for the seventh position last week.
It seems that he is picking up some pace and trying to make it to the European Tour once again for the 2013 season.
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