Home favourite Joost Luiten was pleased to have made a perfect start to his title defence as a brilliant inward 32 saw him claim share of the lead after day one of the KLM Open in The Netherlands.
The Dutchman was level par through 11 holes at Kennemer Golf & Country Club when play was briefly suspended, but stormed home with three birdies and an eagle in his last seven holes for a five under par 65.
Scotland’s Jamie McLeary was also five under, with two holes remaining of his opening round when play was suspended due to bad light.
That was one ahead of 22 year old Frenchman Gary Stal, who carded 32 on a flawless front nine which included four birdies, and Italians Edoardo Molinari and Andrea Pavan.
“It is always nice to shoot a 65,” said Luiten, who followed a 15 foot putt for eagle at the seventh with a brilliant approach to three feet at the next.
“I played well and didn’t make any mistakes. That’s the key on this course, keep the ball in play and take your chances. For me it was a good solid round and I hit some nice spots.
“You have to take your chances. Sometimes you can be conservative and take irons off the tee but if you feel good with the drive you have to hit it and make a tough hole into a birdie hole. It all depends how the winds but I was hitting my drive well and I tried to take advantage of that.”
Asked about his exploits his back nine – his round had started at the tenth – the three-time European Tour winner added: “I wasn’t playing bad but just not hitting it that close.
“Then a couple of holes on that stretch of five, six, seven are scoring holes and I took advantage. I thought if I made a couple of birdies it would be a nice round and the eagle on seven was a bonus, then I hit it stiff on eight and all of a sudden you are five under for the round.
“It’s the first day so you just stay patient and don’t make big mistakes and your chances will come, and they did.”
The delay occurred after this season's BMW International Open winner Fabrizio Zanotti was injured by a ball struck from the 14th tee by Alexandre Kaleka when he was on the 16th fairway.
The 31 year old did not lose consciousness and received treatment on the course from a doctor and a paramedic before he was then taken to hospital as a precaution where he was accompanied by fellow players Felipe Aguilar and Ricardo Gonzalez, who withdrew from the tournament to stay with him.
Molinari has been in fine form this year, rising to 29th in The Race to Dubai having overcome a series of injury problems.
“It was a really good round especially as I wasn’t hitting the ball well off the tee,” the Italian said of his six birdie, two bogey effort.
“I chipped well and had a lot of good iron shots, so I need to work on my driving and then I should be alright.”
Former French Amateur Champion Stal, who came through November’s Qualifying School, said: “It is my first visit here and I like the course. It is a good course and you need to play good to score.”
Play in the first round will resume at 8am on Friday.
