Gregory Bourdy thrashes course record to gain first round lead at Iberdrola Open on European Tour
Frenchman Gregory Bourdy’s knowledge and familiarity with the course at p**a Golf Club came in handy when he broke the course record with a stunning seven-under, 63 in the first round of Iberdrola Open on the European Tour.
Bourdy won his first European Tour title at the same venue at the Mallorca Open and seems quite at home playing at p**a GC lay-out.
"I feel very good and I like this course - I won three years ago so everything is great here," said Bourdy, who has three European Tour titles to his name. "It's always great to hold a course record. It's very nice on Tour to get a score like this."
Bourdy started off from back nine and was five-under, 31 before he birdied the first hole at the turn to complete four in a row. He went on birdying the third and another from 30 feet for Par-3, eighth. His round also had two bogeys at 15th and
seventh.
"I made nine birdies, only two or three mistakes but it was a wonderful day," said the 29-year-old Frenchman.
Bourdy has returned to San Servera after a gap of two years and the player cited the difficulty of getting tickets as the main hurdle last year which kept him from participating in the tournament. The year before, there was no tournament.
Englishman Danny Willett moved to the second play with his equally crafty display of skill and control. Willett shot an approach at five feet from the third and a 20 feet putt at the fifth and finished his first round with a six-under, 64. The 23-year-old carded
seven birdies in his high performance round.
"It was really good today, as the last few weeks on Tour have been," said Willett.
The young golfer is still looking for his first win on the tour despite his 17 Top-10 closings.
Two players are contending for the third place, Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke and Matthew Nixon, one shot behind Willet.
Clarke, Ryders Cup’s former vice Captain is coming out of his extended three week’s holiday in Bahamas and feels rejuvenated by the excursion. He sank the ball from ten feet for the first and shot his approach for three feet on two holes later. He completed
his front nine with four-under. Clarke is eager to break his winless streak. His last victory came at the KLM Open in 2008.
Rhys Davies is currently holding the fifth place with his four-under score for the first round. Jose Maria Olazabal, who is also the designer of the course, fared badly on Day 1 with an over-par score of 71.
Olazabal and Colin Montgomerie were not able to play in the practice rounds as they went over for Seve Ballesteros funeral yesterday. Montgomerie ended up with a disappointing round of 77.
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