Portugal Masters update: Johan Edfors and Thomas Karlsson surge to clubhouse lead
Victoria Golf Club was designed for the long hitters; the statement has been verified after a trio of long hitters surged into clubhouse lead in the first round of the Portugal Masters.
The Thursday round was a total blast when long tee shots were being blown on the par- 72 course. The overall scenario posed like the long drives tournament, with Robert Karlsson, Johan Edfors and Maartin Lafeber rising into lead.
The trio shot a 64. They were followed by Alexander Noren and Mikko Ilonen at a score of 8-under-par.
David Horsey and Paul McGinley shot a score of 64 to take the fourth spot on the leaderboard.
The weather was pleasant with wind blowing at 3km/hr and the greens were hard enough to hole a birdie. The overall field gave superb results, making use of the perfect conditions. Fifty two players shot a score of under par, which
was a good aggregate for the starters.
The Swede Peter Karlsson gave a stupendous performance; he delivered a round of eight birdies without a single bogey. He was joined by his compatriot with a replicating performance. The only difference was that of the teeing area,
which was back nine for Peter Karlsson and back nine for Johan Edfors.
According to the experts, Peter Karlsson was showing signs of a leader right from the beginning. He was consistent with his swings and his long drives started to pay off from the 10th hole, when he picked up his first
birdie. He carded three more on the 12th, 16th and the 17th. On his way on the front nine, the 37-year-old picked four more birdies on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 6th hole.
The player was quite satisfied with the prevailing conditions as it suited his game. He told the press, "I think with this kind of set-up with not so much rough, that's very often what we play in Sweden, It's a bit similar to Swedish
golf, and the speed of the greens as well are not super fast.”
He further added that he felt at ease when playing on the course as it was similar to the Swedish courses. Moreover, the wind was down, which indicated that shooting was quite possible with low roughs and if no wind blew, the magic
number of 59 could be achieved.
On the other hand Johan Edfors started with front nine and produced three birdies. However, in the back nine, the player seemed to be on fire when he picked up five birdies to match the score of his compatriot. The Swede was joined
by the Dutchman, Maartin Lafeber. The player was in one stroke lead with nine birdies, but he dropped a shot in the closing hole of the back nine, which resulted in a bogey-six. Lafeber had to settle with the duo to take the first spot of the leader board.
The weather was pleasant and the greens were soft, despite few players felt trouble in dealing with the course. Alexander Noren was one of those players. He picked up seven birdies and one eagle, but missed two shots which resulted
in two bogeys.
As for the Ryder Cup heroes, none of the four appeared at the top of the leaderboard, although two of the players produced a good score with four-under-par; they were Ross Fisher and Edoardo Molinari. The rest were terrible with
the long pars; Miguel Angel Jimenez shot one over, whereas, Francesco Molinari carded a 74 and missed the cut for the next round.
Ryder Cup heroes gave a performance that was already comprehended. The group was tired because of consecutive tours and the course conditions did not suit them. The course best suits the players with a long game, rather than those
who have expertise in short game.
This is for the first round of the Portugal Masters, which took place on the Victoria Golf Club in Vilamoura.
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