Richie Ramsay leading the Andalucía Masters after first round
Scotland’s Richie Ramsay soared to the top of the leaderboard in the first round of Andalucía Masters at one of the toughest European Tour courses, the Club de Golf Valderrama in Spain. Pulling in a stellar six-under, 65 under strong winds, Ramsay is now leading the event by two strokes.
"Valderrama is the kind of course that suits me," Ramsay said, "I worked out a good game plan with my caddie about how to play it in the wind and it's always nice to have a 65 around a classic course like this because it’s had The Ryder Cup and so many great champions."
Ramsay is coming out of a strong finish at Castello Masters where he finished for third, although trailing the leader Sergio Garcia by a massive 12 strokes. Ramsay started off the day with three birdies in alternating holes and made the turn to card a birdie and stunning eagle at par-five, 11th. He carded one more birdie at 15th before dropping his only shot at 17th.
England’s Ross Fisher finished runners up, two shots behind Ramsay. The Englishman fell for a disastrous triple-bogey at par-four, 8th, throwing away what could have been an easy lead on his part in the opening round. He carded seven birdies in all to stay in contention for the top slot.
“On eight I hit a good tee shot, it drifted five yards right of the fairway, hits a tree and bounces out of bounds. I was really pleased with the way I fought back.” said Ross.
Rampaging Garcia is also not far behind the lead with his opening round of one-under, 70. His performance on the first day was not as bad as the score would probably depict. He carded four birdies, an eagle at par-five, 11th and dropped four shots in his 18-hole stretch on the first day. He is tied for the fifth position with three players including Scott Strange, David Drysdale and Peter Lawrie. Garcia is hoping to continue with his rejuvenated confidence he has recently acquired with his long-awaited victory at Castello Masters last week where he finished for a whopping 27-under.
Frenchman Gregory Havret and Scot Stephen Gallacher finished for a joint third finishing three shots behind the lead. Martin Kaymer finished for a humble even-par on the first day tied for the ninth place with his group mate Miguel Angel Jimenez and five other players.
Tags: