Espen Kofstad makes a strong comeback at the M2M Russian Challenge Cup
After dropping out of the Rolex Trophy two weeks ago, Norway’s Espen Kofstad bounced back strongly with a five-under par 67 on day one of the M2M Russian Challenge Cup, and shared the second position.
Later in the day, Alessаndro Tаdini of Italy also joined him on the leaderboard, after matching the feat of his Norwegian counterpart without suffering a single bogey all day.
Kofstad had to announce his withdrawal from the Rolex Trophy because of the recurrence of a back injury. It was a huge disappointment for the 25-year-old, as the tournament is regarded as one of the biggest events on the Challenge Tour.
“I had to pull out of Rolex before the third round. It was going good and then I woke up on Friday and it felt terrible,” he explained. “I was playing alright but I was playing with one of the main guys from Rolex so it wasn’t the best time to pull out but
I couldn’t swing through”.
However, a strong comeback in Russia may help him forget his miseries and he can now improve his position in the Challenge Tour Rankings.
“It’s absolutely beautiful out there,” said Kofstad. “I enjoyed every single second of it. Obviously, I played in a great group today where we didn’t make many mistakes between us”.
Kofstad played along the Challenge Tour Rankings leader Gary Lockerbie and Marco Crespi in the same group. All of them played brilliantly and posted some good scores on the leaderboard.
Crespi, in the meantime, recorded the best round of the day and took the lead with a six-under par 66.
Kofstad now plans to keep his momentum going into the remaining three rounds and is hopeful to take his second Challenge Tour title home. Earlier this July, he won the Double Tree by Hilton Acaya Open.
In the meantime, Tadini, the winner of the ECCO Tour Championship three weeks ago, also looked happy with his overall performance in the round.
According to the golf commentators, he must focus on his putting technique, which can help him record his second tour victory of the season. He missed some good chances for birdies that could have helped him post a better score.
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