Christofer Blomstrand was loving playing on home soil as he continued his recent resurgence in the opening round of the Nordea Masters.
The Qualifying School graduate had made just four of 14 cuts in his rookie European Tour season when he turned up at the Porsche European Open three weeks ago but a tie for second in Germany turned his season around.
The Swede is now 113th on the Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex and gave his chances of keeping his playing privileges another major boost with an opening round of 65 at Hills Golf Club.
He recovered from an opening bogey with four birdies and an eagle and was delighted to perform well at an event where he finished 15th last season.
“It's really nice to be home, I have my family here this week again so I'm looking forward to it,” he said.
“I don't know about the other guys but I think playing at home is more fun and more relaxed. You just go out and take every shot as good as you can, well that's what I'm trying to do.
“If you hit the fairways then I would say that you will have a lot of chances. I think I played quite badly in the beginning but I holed some good putts, actually. On the last nine it was changing so I ended up making birdies when I was holing putts.”
Blomstrand sat a shot behind Scott Jamieson and Lee Slattery, both of whom thought they could have gone lower than 64.
Slattery's best round of the season so far was a stunning 62 on day three of the Italian Open and the Englishman believes he had the chance to match or better that mark in Gothenburg.
“I missed a six-foot eagle putt on the last there but, to be honest, today could have been anything,” he said. “I missed a three-footer on the ninth and I holed a few putts too but seriously though, I could have gone really low today. I'm still very happy with 64.
“When I look back at my round today, I think I just hit it in all the right spots and when I needed a break I got the break.”
Scotsman Jamieson recorded his lowest round of the season but he too felt he left some shots out on the course on Thursday.
“It was great,” he said. “64 sounds better than six under so I like the sound of that.
“It could have been a lot better, to be honest. I missed a couple of six-footers and made a bogey with a wedge in my hand on 11, so my front nine could have been a lot better.
“On my back nine I had a chip-in and a couple of errant shots that I got away with.”
