Spain’s Pablo Larrazábal moved into a four shot lead when play resumed at the Lyoness Open powered by Greenfinity first round.
After the Open de España runner-up raced to six under par through 12 holes at Diamond Country Club, play was suspended for three hours and 40 minutes due to surface water making some areas unplayable after heavy rain.
Having started with a gain at the long tenth, Larrázabal took three at the par five 13th, then picked up further shots at the 14th, 16th and 18th to turn in a six under par 30.
The 29 year old had spoken of his desire to hit his best form after finishing 45th in The Open Championship on Sunday.
“I felt I played a lot better than I scored,” he said, after finishing six over par at Royal Lytham & St Annes.
“I am playing Austria and then a week off before Kiawah [for the US PGA Championship] which I am really looking forward to. I played in a Junior tournament there in 2003 and finished second so it will be great to go back there.
“I am hitting the ball as well as I ever have and looking forward to the week and competing. If I can take the form from the front nine at Lytham into the week it will be a good event.”
On the resumption of play Larrazábal holed an eight footer on the sixth – his 15th - to move to seven under, with Rikard Karlberg his nearest challenger on three under.
Grégory Bourdy’s return to the course was even better – he chipped in from rough on the fifth with his first shot back for birdie, gained a shot at the long next, then almost holed his approach to the eighth and tapped in – the three birdies taking the Frenchman back to two under after he dropped four shots in as many holes around the turn.
