Open de Andalucía de Golf's leaderboard jam packed at the top – Golf update
Five player were tied in the lead on the first day of the Open de Andalucía de Golf, which is taking place at the par-70 Malaga Golf Course in Spain. The 13th European Tour event presented by the Turkish Airlines is carrying a purse of €1,000,000.
The first round of the tournament kicked off in pleasant weather conditions. Taking advantage of the sun and slow greens, Johan Edfors teed off from the front and picked two birdies in the closing three holes. The Swede marched onto the back and collected
four more after missing a par putt at the par-3 11th.
The 35-year-old Edfors is bidding to end his winless period with a triumph at Malaga. He was part of the 2011 Royals Trophy in which Europe won. Apart from that, he has not won a title since 2009, with his last victory at the Black Mountain Masters. In a
result of this frustration, the player has sworn not to cut his hair until he breaks the curse of his winless period.
The player was soon joined by his compatriots, Oscar Floren, Rikard Karlberg and the English duo, Robert Rock and Jamie Elson.
Rock started with off to a slow start. He chose to tee off from the back and failed to earn a point in the nine holes. However, on the front, the player decided to change the strategy and in result of its success picked three back-to-back birdies starting
from the second hole. He capped the first round with two more birdies and an aggregate of five-under par.
Karlberg too chose the back as his battleground, but failed to earn a point after carding two bogeys and an equal number of birdies. The player approached the greens on the front with a hit-the-pin strategy and proved successful in it. He reeled five birdies
without dropping a single shot.
One stroke below the leaders stood another group of five players that included Paul Lawrie. The Scott managed to pick four successive birdies starting from the 11th hole and left rest of the course for the pars.
This is it for news regarding the leaders of the first round. For more information about the tournament, refer to bettor.com
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