Borja Virto Astudillo shrugged off any suggestions of pressure in the opening round of The Foshan Open as the Spaniard, who sits right on the bubble in 15th place on the Road to Oman Rankings, took the first round lead in the penultimate event of the season thanks to an eight under 64.
The 24 year old got off to the perfect start as he carded a trio of successive birdies before making two more gains on the fifth and sixth to pick up five shots in the opening six holes.
That set the tone for a flawless round which also included a birdie at the par five closing hole and he took a one stroke advantage into the second round, with South African prospect Haydn Porteous a shot behind on seven under.
For Virto Astudillo, the lucrative prize fund on offer in China makes it an even more crucial week, with many twists and turns still to come in this enthralling Challenge Tour season.
Hopefully I can keep it going and just look at the leaderboard, not the Rankings
While his position just inside the all-important top 15 - who claim a European Tour card at the conclusion of the NBO Golf Classic Grand Final in two weeks - might have been cause for some trepidation in Foshan, he has not been feeling any undue stress thus far.
“It was a pretty good start so I was really happy,” said the Pamplona-born player, who won the D+D REAL Slovakia Challenge in July. “I was just playing really good, a really nice first hole with driver down the middle, six iron to two metres and I made the putt. At number two I made a long putt for birdie and then another birdie on the third.
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“I was just playing good golf and making good putts. I have hit a lot of fairways today, I don’t think I missed any greens, maybe one or two on the fringe but I was still putting.
“The greens were perfect this morning, a bit grainy maybe but I got a good feel for them. It always helps when you make the first few putts, so then I was just really confident and making sure to hit it softer when I was down-grain.
“A nice week here would be all I need for the season and this is a really nice start. I couldn’t have hoped for anything better so I’m really happy. Hopefully I can keep it going and just look at the leaderboard, not the Rankings.
“I just have to try and focus on my game, shot by shot, because I spoke to my coach back home and it’s really easy to think about the Rankings, who is doing well and who is doing badly. It gets to you then, so I’ve just tried to forget about it and just play golf.”
Virto Astudillo earned a European Tour card for the 2015 season at last year’s Qualifying School – after just one year as a professional – but could not get off to a good start on The Race to Dubai and has been finding his feet very comfortably in his rookie campaign on the Challenge Tour.
“I started on The European Tour and I was actually playing really good golf from tee to green but my short game was awful,” he said. “Then I was doing well on Challenge Tour, and I think it really helped by playing on The European Tour first with all the great players.
It is massive here, it feels like a European Tour event
“I feel more comfortable playing here now, but playing on main tour really helped me, even though I didn’t play very well there. Hopefully I can play better if I get back there next year.
“The win in Slovakia was really big for me and gave me a lot of confidence. I feel like I’ll be more ready next year than I was this year.
“I love it here, really like the course, the weather is perfect – well, maybe a little too hot! – but the hotel is nice and the location is too. I like Chinese food too so I’m having a great time here.
“It is massive here, it feels like a European Tour event and it’s one of the biggest we play on Challenge Tour for sure.
“It would be amazing to win here, a nice way to close the Challenge Tour season, on this course, with this set up, and it looks like a lot of people will be coming too. It would be awesome.”
For Porteous, who sits in 12th place in the Road to Oman, a big week would at the very least put him in a good position to secure graduation to The European Tour at the conclusion of the Grand Final, but he could wrap it up this week in China with a victory or possibly even a top three finish.
The Johannesburg player, who has three more top ten finishes to his name in his rookie Challenge Tour season, carded eight birdies and a three-putt bogey on day one and was happy with his opening 65.
“I really hit it good today, probably the best I’ve hit it all year,” he said. “I made a lot more putts than I thought I would, especially on the tenth, my first hole of the day – I hit a good 35 footer up the hill and it then I carried on from there.
“The wind seemed to get up a little bit in the afternoon, but I drove nicely, hit lots of greens and luckily I made a few putts. It is quite tricky to get it close, you’ve got to stick to the conservative side of the flag and luckily today I did that and hopefully tomorrow I can do the same.
Obviously there’s big pressure this week and I couldn’t have asked for a better start
“I got some really good momentum at the beginning with that big putt and this game is sometimes all about confidence.
“Obviously there’s big pressure this week and I couldn’t have asked for a better start, especially in the position I’m in in the Road to Oman, it’s quite easy to drop three or four spots at the end of the season. Today has put me in a really good position to hopefully get within the top five.
Listen to the full interview here.
“There are obviously still three rounds to go but I’ve got to look at the positives and hopefully build on them and do the same the next three rounds.”
Local favourite Li-hao Chen, from nearby Zhuhai, in the same province as this week’s host venue in Foshan City, carded six birdies in a flawless opening round 66 to move into outright third place on six under.
