Victor Riu starts well at the Najeti Hotels et Golfs Open – Golf News
Victor Riu finished birdie-birdie-eagle on day one of the Najeti Hotels et Golfs Open presented by Neuflize OBC, en route to three-under par 68, which allowed him to take the second spot on the leaderboard, on Thursday, June 13,
2013.
The tournament is being staged at the Aa St Omer Golf Club and is co-sanctioned by the European Tour and the European Challenge Tour. That is the reason why almost 50 per cent of the participants are from the tier-2 category and
are trying their best to make the most of their opportunity to jump to the European Tour with a victory.
Riu, who started his campaign on the back nine of the course, birdied the 10th hole, his first, before losing a shot on the 12th. He then parred each of the next nine holes that he played, before conceding another bogey of the
day at the fourth hole, his 13th.
Entering the seventh hole, he was one-over par for the round. Thereafter, he made a stunning comeback, as he recorded birdies on each of the next two hole, before ending his first-round campaign with an amazing eagle on the final
hole.
At the end of the day, he found himself settled just one stroke behind the pace set by Tjaart Van der Walt, who is currently making his debut appearance in the event.
“You have to take your opportunities on tour and I didn’t opt to play this one last year,” he said. “I think this year it could be a good decision. I am not in the field for the BMW International Open next week and a good finish
here could maybe get me in there.”
“I was one over until the last few holes but I had a brilliant finish so that was great,” added the 28-year-old Frenchman. “The final two par fives played quite short because they were downwind so I had a seven iron and a nine
iron into them.”
After a strong finish to his first round, the Parisian is now confident to keep the momentum going into the remaining three rounds, with an aim to push on his steady start to his season this year.
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