Tom Murray battled strong winds and periodic rain to open a commanding three shot lead on Day One of the Hauts de France Golf Open.
After bogeying his second hole, it appeared the Englishman might be in for a long day at the challenging Aa Saint-Omer Golf Club, which was made even more difficult by the adverse scoring conditions.
However, after erasing the dropped shot and turning in level par, the 28 year old proceeded to make six birdies and no bogeys — shooting 30 on the inward half and signing for a six under par 65 total.
“Any round under par at Saint-Omer, in any conditions, is pretty decent,” said Murray. “You can get out of position and make a bogey so easily around here — even from a good tee shot or a second shot that takes the wrong bounce.
“It’s a good golf course because you have to set your mentality before the round to know that it’s going to be a grind, which suits me.”
According to Murray, the key to the round was an early test of his short-game.
“I had a couple of par saves on the front nine that were sort of momentum keepers and then I made a lot of birdies on the back nine to capitalise on those earlier saves.”
Four players, Adrian Meronk of Poland, Spaniard Javier Sainz, Frenchman Robin Sciot-Siegrist, Adrian Meronk of Poland and Welshman Stuart Manley share second place on three under par.
Playing on home soil, Sciot-Siegrist explained how pleased he was to open strongly on such a daunting test of golf.
“Making bogeys here is pretty much normal,” said the Paris native. “So it was really important to be patient and avoid anything that could lead to bad breaks or double-bogeys.”
For Manley, the reversal in fortune was dramatic. Sitting at two over par and running out of holes rapidly, the man who occupies the sixth position on the Road to Ras Al Khaimah found a groove as he closed with five consecutive birdies to jump 53 places on the Day One leaderboard.
In all, only 24 players managed to break par and while the projected cut currently sits at plus two, it could well move higher by the conclusion of play on Friday.
The Hauts de France Golf Open leader, Murray, will tee off the first hole on Day Two at 8:30 am local time as tee times are set to begin tomorrow at 7:30 am.
