Belgian Pierre Relecom matched Alessandro Tadini’s six under par round of 66 to take a share of the clubhouse lead in the first round of the ECCO Tour Championship presented by Thomas Björn and Mercedes Benz.
The 26 year-old shot a superb round which included no less than seven birdies and one eagle on a lightning-delayed afternoon at Lübker Golf Resort in Nimtofte, Denmark.
Tadini had taken an early clubhouse lead after a bogey-free round of 66 and while Relecom may have taken an outright lead ahead had he not three-putted the final hole, overall he was happy with what he felt was his best round of the year.
“I’ve been striking the ball much better since Norway,” he said, referring to the Norwegian Challenge last week.
“In Belgium (at the Telenet Trophy last May, when he finished tied for 25th) I putted so well, that’s my home course and I played really well but I scrambled around a little in 66 shots on that occasion while here it was it was a 66 with three different three-putts so it was really solid.”
One of the more special moments of his round came at the par five 10thhole, where he hit a rescue wood from 230 metres that pitched on the green but rolled to an awkward lie on the fringe.
Relecom opted to putt with the same rescue club that got him in to that position, before sinking an unlikely putt for eagle.
“When it went in I thought, ‘every putt seems to be going in’ and then on the next hole I just went for it even though I could have played conservative and I got a nice birdie.”
ECCO Tour player Lasse Sonne Nielsen was the leading Dane in the clubhouse, just three shots off the lead and in third place after shooting a three under par 69.
