Estoril Open De Portugual first round latest
With many of Europe's better golfers sitting out the Estoril Open de Portugual, either to try their luck in the St. Jude Classic on the PGA Tour or simply to take a break before next week's US Open, there was plenty of room for some of Europe's less heralded names to make an impression at today's opening round.
Eirik Tage Johansen duly emerged as the clubhouse leader at Penha Longa, the little known Norwegian inching ahead of England's Richard Bland by a stroke to lead the field this afternoon.
Johansen carded six birdies on the back nine, including a stretch of four on the bounce between the 11th and 14th; but it was the birdie on the 18th that saw the Scandinavian overtake Bland. If not for a solitary dropped shot on the 17th, Johansen's lead could have been still more convincing.
The 28-year-old’s best finish this year came at last week's Wales Open when he finished tied for 34th place; he finished here seven-under-par 65.
Bland himself dropped just one shot, on the fifth, his seven birdies enough to see him take sole possession of second place, though several players are lurking just behind.
Sweden's Henrik Nystrom, Denmark's Mark Haastrup and Thomas Bjorn, Australia's Richard Green and Wales' Bradley Dredge were all tied for third place on five-under.
Two Englishmen, Robert Coles and John Parry, were amongst those tied for eighth place on four-under, while another promising young English talent, Chris Wood, was a stroke further back.
But with many players only beginning their rounds this afternoon, there's still plenty of time for the order of the leaderboard to change dramatically before the close of play.
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