Marco Crespi stormed to the top of the leaderboard after the opening round of the M2M Russian Challenge Cup thanks to a superb six under par round of 66 which left him a shot clear of two fellow winners on the Challenge Tour this year, compatriot Alessandro Tadini and Norway’s Espen Kofstad.
Playing alongside Kofstad and the Challenge Tour Rankings leader Gary Lockerbie, the Italian had two incredible purple patches to thank for his leading score on the tough Tseleevo Golf & Polo Club, just outside Moscow.
The first came on the front nine, where he birdied four out of five holes before he repeated that extraordinary feat on the final stretch.
His opening birdie came at the par three third hole before reaching the turn in three under par courtesy of three more birdies in the next four holes, with a bogey sandwiched in between at the par four fifth.
The 2012 Telenet Trophy champion dropped a shot at the 12th hole but embarked on an incredible run by carding three consecutive birdies from the 14th.
The Milan native finished it off in style with another birdie at the 18th and he was delighted with his round, of which his nearest challenger Kofstad commented; “he made the course look silly easy”.
“I just played really good from tee to green,” said the 33 year old, whose win in Belgium in May was the first of his Challenge Tour career. “I gave myself plenty of chances for birdies and although this course is long and I'm not a long hitter, I still reached plenty of greens, waited for my chances and my putting was perfect.
“I will still try and improve my game for the next three rounds, why not go for 59! My game has not been too different since Belgium. It all just depends on my putting. If my putting is good my scores go low and otherwise I'm around par.”
Crespi currently sits at 22nd place in the Rankings and is well aware that he needs some big finishes to guarantee a card for The European Tour next year, but he is confident he can produce the goods in an important two weeks on the schedule – with the lucrative Kazakhstan Open to follow next week.
“Like everybody else here, of course I know I need to perform in these two weeks,” he said. “I relaxed last week at home and I’ll try to bring my best game for these tournaments. My final round at the Rolex Trophy was seven under par so I am confident.
Kofstad, meanwhile, showed true mettle after the disappointment of dropping out of the Rolex Trophy, as he carded a five under par round of 67 to finish the opening day in tied second place.
He was joined later in the day by Tadini, winner of the ECCO Tour Championship hosted by Thomas Björn & Mercedes-Benz just three weeks ago, as the Italian matched the feat of his Norwegian counter-part by avoiding a single bogey all day.
Morten Orum Madsen of Denmark, Sweden’s Magnus A Carlsson, Mark Tullo of Chile, Scotsman Scott Henry and Agustin Domingo of Spain were all a shot further back on four under par.
Former World Number One tennis player and home favourite Yavgeny Kafelnikov endured a difficult day as he signed for a seven over par round of 79.
