Ricardo Gouveia continued his remarkable form on the European Challenge Tour to card a scorching course-record 63 in the German sunshine and take a two-shot lead after day one of the AEGEAN Airlines Challenge Tour by Hartl Resort.
The in-form Portuguese is the only man in the top 15 of the Road to Oman Rankings to have made the weekend at every event he has played this season but is still in search of a first win of the season, having earned victory in his seventh professional start at the EMG Golf Challenge Open 2014.
The 23 year old charged into a commanding lead after tearing apart the Beckenbauer Course, at the expansive German golfing mecca in the Bavaria region, with a flawless eight under round which comprised six birdies and an eagle.
The confident young Vilamoura player experienced a relative slump in form over the last two weeks – having finished in the top ten for five consecutive weeks prior to a tied 35th finish in France a fortnight ago and a share of 19th in Scotland last week – but he believes he is back on track and is hoping to double his trophy haul on the Challenge Tour.
“I played really well today,” he said. “I holed a few putts which was the difference from the last few weeks. I’ve been hitting the ball pretty well recently and the putts just haven’t dropped but today I was able to hole a few good ones and to shoot the course record is just a bonus.
“I wouldn’t say things are coming easy for me now, I just think it’s the hard work paying off – everything I’ve done for the past four or five years in college. The transition was good and obviously the end of last year was really good for me, it gave me a lot of confidence.
I think my long game is up with the top players even on The European Tour
“After my win last year I started feeling a lot more comfortable and obviously started believing more in my capabilities around such good players. I knew this year that if I kept playing as well as I did last year I would be top of the Rankings or close to the top and that’s what I’m doing, hopefully I can keep this form going throughout the year.
“I think my long game is up with the top players even on The European Tour. The only difference is my short game, if my putting is good I’m going to shoot low scores and I’m going to even win or be close to a win.
“A win or a really good finish here would give me a cushion for the next half of the year. It’s important, not massive, but it would really help.”
Gouveia’s closest challengers came in the shape of Marcel Schneider, who entered this week brimful of confidence after a tied 20th finish at The European Tour’s BMW International Open on German soil, and Englishman Paul Howard.
Marcel Schneider, the leading German after Round One
A six under par 65 is the best score of Schneider’s short Challenge Tour career, and means is he is the leading German heading into the second round.
“I know the course and it played quite good today,” said the 25 year old. “I was hitting the ball really well all of last week and I continued that today. I was giving myself loads of opportunities and the putter is working well too so that makes it pretty easy.
“A lot of people were following me last week and it gave me a really good feeling out on the course. I said it many times last week that if a lot of people are walking with me on the course I feel like I can play even better, it pushes me on.
“I’m confident now. If the weather stays like this all week I will love it because the ball is flying pretty long, so I just enjoy it. My game is good enough to keep this going, for sure.”
Another German, Max Kramer, was a shot further back on six under, alongside Sweden’s Björn Åkesson while ScotDavid Law was joined in sixth placeby South African Dean Burmester and Belgium's Hugues Joannes.
