Johan Edfors and Niclas Fasth made light of the heavy rain to post opening rounds of 67 on the first day of the Omega European Masters.
Despite the unseasonal conditions and temperature at Crans-sur-Sierre, the Swedish duo plundered 13 birdies between them to finish day one of the €2.1million tournament in a share of ninth place.
Both men have struggled to find their very best form so far this season, with former Ryder Cup player Fasth currently occupying 120th in The Race to Dubai and Edfors ranked five places lower than his compatriot.
Neither man has yet managed a top ten finish this term, but both are convinced that brighter days lie just around the corner after rediscovering some of their old sparkle.
Fasth said: “My game has developed nicely recently, and today my game was absolutely brilliant. I hit a lot of very good shots, and I could – and probably should – have gone even lower than I did. It’s been a very gradual improvement recently, and a round like today has definitely been coming. The conditions were very tough out there at times, but even though I made a few bogeys I never really thought I was in too much trouble. So the signs were very encouraging.”
Those sentiments were echoed by Edfors, who mixed six birdies with two bogeys to sign for his lowest opening round of the season.
He said: “I played the first 12 holes really well, then made some good recoveries coming home. A round of four under is good in these conditions, even though the greens are softer because of the rain. But even when it rains here there’s still a feel good factor about this place, because it’s such a beautiful part of the world. But I still hope for some sun for the rest of the week! There are some stunning views, and the mountains look a lot nicer when the light’s good.”
Later in the day, Fredrik Andersson took the number of Swedes in the top ten to three with a stunning 65 which included four birdies in his last five holes.
He said: “I struggled for the first five holes, but managed to save par and after that I played some very solid golf and managed to take a few chances coming home. I knocked in on two on 14, then holed a putt I thought I had missed on 15, and hit it close on 17 and 18. So it was a great finish to the round.”
