Tomás Bessa produced a scintillating nine under par round of 63 to take a two-stroke lead on day one of the Open de Portugal at Royal Obidos.
The Portuguese carded his best round of the season in front of home support, as he birdied the second, fifth, seventh and ninth holes on the way out before adding five more gains after the turn without a bogey to jump into the lead.
The 27-year-old, whose best finish of the season to date came with a tied 28th place finish at the Andalucía Challenge de Cádiz in June, was delighted that his work on the greens allowed him to get off to a fast start on home soil.
“I played amazing for all 18 holes,” he said. “I made good putts and was swinging well all the way around. It’s my lowest ever round and to do it in my home country just makes it more special.
“Tee to green I played well but mid to short range putts, I made pretty much everything. From within 10 feet I didn’t miss which helped to keep the round going. I missed only a couple of greens and I was still able to make an up and down on those, so I think that was important too.
“I tried to stay calm the whole round. My caddie helped me a lot to be present in the moment and I think I did a good job.”
Bessa currently sits in 194th place in the Road to Mallorca Rankings and is hoping for a strong finish to 2023 in order to make sure of his place in the top 45 for the season-ending Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final supported by the R&A.
“The season hasn’t gone well for me, especially mentally,” he added. “It’s been tough, but I felt that I had a good rhythm today and good confidence today.
“A win would change everything. It would be very special to have a first win here or a really high finish. That’s exactly what I need to do to get this season trending in the right direction.”
Englishman Marco Penge occupies solo second place on seven under par with Spaniard Manuel Elvira, Dutchman Dario Antonisse, Frenchman Frederic Lacroix and Englishman Lee Slattery one shot further back on six under par in third.
Gregorio De Leo from Italy and Jeppe Kristian Andersen from Denmark share seventh place on five under par.
Round two begins at 7:50am local time with Bessa teeing off alongside Elvira and South African Brandon Stone at 1:20pm.
