Jesper Svensson was delighted to live up to expectations as one of the home favourites as he made a strong start on his Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed debut.
The Swede is enjoying a memorable rookie campaign on the DP World Tour since graduating from the European Challenge Tour last year, with his highlight being a breakthrough win at the Porsche Singapore Classic in March.
That victory in the Far East in part helped him earn an invite to the US PGA Championship last month at Valhalla Golf Club, where he made the cut on his Major Championship debut.
Such has been the consistency of his performances, World Number 110 Svensson sits third in the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex and he did not disappoint in front of home crowds as he opened with a four-under-par 68 at Vasatorps Golflubb on Thursday.
"There were a lot of expectations going into this week, so I was a little bit nervous," he said.
"It definitely felt good to see some long putts roll in early in the round."
Svensson, who rose to a career-high 102nd with his win in Singapore, mixed seven birdies with one bogey and one double bogey as he set out to claim his second DP World Tour title in Helsingborg.
Starting at the tenth, Svensson played his front nine in four under par before he briefly reached five under only for his momentum to be halted by a double bogey at the fifth.
The 28-year-old then traded a birdie at the sixth with a bogey at the seventh before a birdie at the eighth helped him to play his back nine in level par and earn a spot inside the top ten on the clubhouse leaderboard.
Svensson was joined by Linn Grant, who made history by becoming the first female to win on the DP World Tour at this event in 2022, and Madelene Sagström and the Swedish trio drew great numbers with them in support as Grant topped their mini-leaderboard with a 67 while her Solheim Cup teammate Sagström carded a 71.
"I was quite chuffed (with the crowd)," Svensson said. "I thought it was a very early alarm even for me this morning. It was great to feel the support of the Swedish crowds.
"The three of us were playing great. It was a lot of fun to play with Linn and Madelene."
Players were met with cold but dry weather at the start of the day, but forecasts predicted rain to arrive for the latter starters and Svensson is aware conditions could change in the days.
"You can tell that the course was firming up a bit, especially on the fairways, you started to get a bit more roll," he reflected.
"It’ll start playing a bit longer if the rain comes down. 17 was tricky, because you had that wind and you’re shielded by the trees, so it’s swirling. I hit the wrong club there today, definitely. I’ll try and hit a low one and hope it’s the right one."
