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Li Haotong leads by one after tying course record
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Li Haotong leads by one after tying course record

Li Haotong fired two eagles in his last four holes to tie the course record at Golfclub München Eichenried and open up a one-shot lead on day one of the 2022 BMW International Open.

Li Haotong

Starting from the tenth tee, the two-time DP World Tour winner carded six birdies before eagles at the sixth and ninth - the front nine's two par fives - catapulted him to ten under par.

The 26-year-old's flawless 62 gave him a one-stroke advantage over nearest challenger Daan Huizing, who finished with back-to-back birdies to sign for a bogey-free 63.

Home favourite Nicolai von Dellingshausen made an eagle, seven birdies and a single bogey to sit alone in third on eight under.

Li got off to a fast start on Thursday, following up close-range birdies at the 11th and 12th with further gains at the 16th and 18th to turn in 32.

A brilliant burst of scoring on his back nine saw Li take the lead, as he went birdie-birdie-eagle from the fourth to get to eight under.

And a delightful approach into the ninth set up a four-foot eagle putt, which he duly converted to get to double figures under par.

Li was happy with his day's work.

He said: "It’s been an incredible day for me. I didn’t expect that because I spent a couple of weeks off in Dubai, which was hot - I didn’t practise much.

"I had a good start, two birdies on the first three holes. Then on my back nine, I think I had six one-putts in a row, which helps. Then hit every fairway I think.

"The last few weeks I’ve played solid, I just couldn’t put it all together. Hopefully this week I can use some experience from there and put things together."

Huizing reached the turn in 31 shots after making five birdies on the front nine.

Back-to-back birdies at the 13th and 14th saw the Dutchman climb to seven under before closing gains on the 17th and 18th took him to nine under.

Huizing said: "I thought there would be some low scores out there.

"Throughout the day you see those going on the board. I wasn’t surprised about that.

"But it was nice to finish with a couple of birdies to climb up a little bit more. There’s a long way to go, three more days, it’s not much use to look at the scoreboard too much, just keep your head down and play well."

German Von Dellingshausen made birdies at the first and fifth before holing from 16 feet for an eagle on the long sixth.

A bogey followed at the seventh but he bounced back with a birdie at the ninth before picking up four more shots after the turn to get to eight under.

He said: "It's a great feeling. I played well all day. I'm just happy that I could finish with one more birdie on the 18th.

"I would have loved to make the eagle on 18, but it didn’t drop – that’s fine, I’m still very happy."

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