Marcus Fraser shares lead at the BMW International Open
Marcus Fraser fired an eight-under par 64 in the opening round of the BMW International Open, at the Golf Club Gut Larchenhof, to share the top spot on Thursday, June 21, 2012.
Fraser got off to a confident start and recorded two birdies on the first three holes that he played. Another birdie on the seventh hole helped him go three-under through the front nine of the course.
Starting from the 13th hole, he recorded an impressive streak of four consecutive birdies, followed by another on the 18th hole to take a one-stroke margin over Chris Wood, Paul McGinley and Danny Willet.
Overall, it was his best performance in the 21 rounds that he has played so far in the prestigious European Tour event.
“It’s a great start and I just drove the ball really straight, missing just one fairway,” he said. “The greens were also quite nice this morning and I managed to make a few putts while that one at the last, a good 35 to 40 feet, was great to see drop”.
Fraser now looks confident to end the Australian winning drought on the European Tour, as Adam Scott was the last player to register a win in the Bridgestone Invitational, in August, 2011.
“I am sure that will change shortly, as there’s a lot of great Australians playing over in the States and a good few playing here in Europe,” Fraser said. “It’s maybe just one of those things, as a few years ago everyone was just accustomed to a lot of Australians
winning in America”.
He now believes that the Australians will start winning again soon, as he seeks to atone for past lapses and put himself in the spotlight.
Indian golf star Shiv Kapur was tied for the fifth position after carding a six-under par 66, with the help of eight birdies against two bogeys.
In the meantime, the defending champion Pablo Larrazabal carded a three-under par 69 to share the 29th place on the leaderboard.
He managed to score a total of six birdies against three bogeys to settle five strokes behind the pace set by Fraser and Fabrizio Zanotti.
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