Coetzee claims early lead at Austrian Open
He may not exactly be a household name, but South Africa's George Coetzee is in the spotlight at the first round of the Austrian Open today, taking the early clubhouse lead at Diamond Country Club this morning.
In a field bereft of great quality, Coetzee started off in blistering fashion, beginning on the 10th and hitting four birdies in his first four holes. Another birdie followed on the 16th, before the 24-year-old dropped his only shot of the day with a bogey on the 18th. But three further birdies on the 4th, 6th and 7th made up for that lapse, leaving Coetzee seven-under-par 65, three strokes ahead of the pursuing Jarmo Sandelin and Javi Colomo.
Sweden's Sandelin had lay just a stroke behind Coetzee with two holes to play, only to bogey them both; Spain's Javi Colomo tied with Sandelin for second place, having shot four birdies in six holes to finish four-under-par.
No less than seven players occupied a tie for fourth place on three-under, among them Sweden's Alexander Noren, Italy's Andrea Maestroni, Ireland's Simon Thornton, France's Julien Quesne and Raphael Jacqueline, and England's Philip Golding and Chris Gane.
But former three-time champion Markus Brier looks unlikely to make it four any time soon, the Austrian having carded two-over with a round that included a double-bogey on the 18th.
With only two players from the top 100 ranked players in the world in attendance this week, favourite-backers will have been looking for Miguel Angel Jiménez to have put in a good showing. But the cigar and brandy-loving Spaniard had an erratic beginning to proceedings, starting well on the back nine with three birdies - and a bogey - on the initial four holes.
But then Jiménez hit a double bogey on the par four 17th, and though he carded two further birdies on the 1st and the 3rd, bogeys on the final two holes saw the 46-year-old finish on level par, and currently tied for 39th place. The other big name player, US Open winner Graeme McDowell is only three holes in but has already racked up two bogeys.
We'll update you with McDowell's progress as the day continues.
Tags: