Joakim Lagergren impressed on the opening day of the Black Desert NI Open presented by Tom McKibbin, posting a bogey-free seven under par round of 63 to lead by two strokes.
The Swede carded five birdies and one eagle without a blemish at Galgorm to move to seven under par, two clear of countryman Per Längfors, Frenchman Robin Sciot-Siegrist and Dane Jeppe Kristian Andersen who share second.
Lagergren got off to the perfect start by birdieing the opening hole, before holing-out for eagle at the par four second. A further gain at the eighth saw him make the turn four under par, with birdies at hole ten, 14 and 15 putting him in pole position.
The 32-year-old has had an indifferent start to the Road to Mallorca season but was pleased with how he managed his game on the opening day.
“I played really solid today,” he added. “I feel my misses were a bit tighter than they’ve been lately, so even when I played a bad shot, they were okay.
“This is a tough course and a really good test. Bogey-free here shows you that you’ve been doing well. I didn’t actually have a five on my card until my last hole which would’ve been nice, but it shows I was doing okay out there.”
The 32-year-old is no stranger to leading at Galgorm having secured a maiden Challenge Tour victory in the NI Open here ten years ago in 2014, and he admits to enjoying the challenge presented by the Co. Antrim course.
“It makes me feel old knowing that it was ten years ago,” he said. “It is a great course and you really need to strike it well to do well here.
“I feel like it’s similar to some of the DP World Tour courses that I’ve played over the years, which I really like, so it suits me well.”
Czech Jiří Zuska, Irishman Conor Purcell and Englishman Sam Hutsby share fifth place on four under par, with nine players a further shot back in eighth, including Irishman Gary Hurley, Frenchman Oihan Guillamoundeguy and Italian Stefano Mazzoli.
Round two gets under way at 7:30am local time, with Lagergren in the first group out alongside Sciot-Siegrist and Englishman Jonathan Thomson.
