Félix Mory carded two eagles on his way to a sensational ten under par opening round of 61 on the Lakes Course at INFINITUM to take a one-stroke lead at Final Stage Qualifying School.
The Frenchman fired six birdies and two eagles without a bogey to move one clear of Austrian Lukas Nemecz on a low-scoring day in Tarragona.
The 30-year-old, who teed it up in the Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final supported by The R&A last week only to finish narrowly outside the promotion places, was delighted with his fast start in perfect scoring conditions.
“Ten under is a special score,” he said. “I think I’ve only had one before in my life, so it’s nice. I played well.
“I didn’t really miss much. I chipped in on 15 which was a bonus but the rest of the day I played solid the whole round.
“I like this course. I think it’s fun to play. I had a lot of mid-irons so you need to be accurate with those to give yourself chances and then you can take advantage of the par fives with good tee shots. I didn’t miss many greens. I think the only one I missed I chipped in on.
“It’s not very windy and the course is soft after the rain they’ve had here, so there is a low one out there, but you’ve still got to do it.”
Mory has been close to earning promotion to the DP World Tour in each of his last three seasons on the Challenge Tour, and despite a fast start to Final Stage this year, is refusing to get carried away after round one of six.
“I don’t really think about getting my card too much,” he added. “It’s six rounds of golf so there’s five left which is a lot. We all know this game, so I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing and we’ll see at the end of the week.
“I’ll try not to change anything, just play like it’s another round and try to enjoy it again tomorrow. That’s all you can do.”
Benjamin Rusch from Switzerland recorded the best round of the day on the Hills Course, carding eight birdies without a blemish to share third place with Englishman Callan Barrow on eight under par.
Three-time DP World Tour winner and 2010 Ryder Cup player Edoardo Molinari sits fifth on seven under par alongside American duo Michael Miller and Dan Erickson, and Wil Besseling from the Netherlands.
The second round of Final Stage Qualifying School gets under way tomorrow at 9:00am local time, with Mory teeing off alongside Sam Jones from New Zealand and Irishman Max Kennedy at 9:55am.
