Carlos Pigem credited his on-course patience for helping him to an early first round lead during a windy day at the Open de Portugal
The 30 year old raced to an early lead at Royal Óbidos Spa & Golf Resort with four consecutive birdies from the fourth, but as the wind picked up and the weather conditions toughened, Pigem’s momentum briefly stalled.
Keeping a level head proved to be the key, and he quickly recovered two dropped shots around the turn with birdies at the 11th and 12th, before adding a final gain of the day with an up and down from the sand at 18.
"I’m really happy about my round today," said Pigem, whose best result of the season so far is a tie for 23rd at the Austrian Open.
"We started with a bit of rain and it was windy, then it stopped for two holes so I thought we’d have a great day. But the wind picked up again, I started really well with four birdies in a row and then had a tough time on nine and ten with two bogeys, but I stayed patient and made three more birdies.
"At the beginning it was very tough, especially in to the rain and the wind. Then it dropped and I made two birdies and had two more. In tough conditions you’re always going to have a tough time, then the next seven chances I had for birdie I made three of them.
"When the conditions are tough you play safer. You don’t want to be too aggressive because you know pars are great and you can still make putts from five and six metres."
Signing off with an up and down for birdie at the last 👏 pic.twitter.com/YRZaWaSaJK
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) September 17, 2020
Still searching for his first victory, the Spaniard said that the soft conditions were a helpful change from the past two weeks at Real Club Valderrama and Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course.
"It’s a tough course. We’re playing it soft, which helps us, especially coming from Valderrama and Portugal last week which were really firm. It was pretty windy and this course is long, so it’s challenging.
Pigem regained his European Tour card through the Final Stage at Qualifying School last season, and is targeting another few good days in Portugal.
"I’m really happy – every time I have an interview it’s good news because it means I’ve been playing great. Let’s see if I can follow this over the next three days."
He currently holds a two shot lead over a tightly packed group of players on three under, which includes local favourite Ricardo Gouviea and Portugal Masters Champion George Coetzee, who is searching for his third win in as many weeks.
Coetzee, who also won the Sunshine Tour's Titleist Championship two weeks ago, said he was happy with a first round 69 despite struggling with club selection in the tricky wind.
"On a windy day, it was tricky. We struggled a bit picking the right clubs on the right holes. Hopefully I'm getting used to it because I don't know what the forecast is. If there's more of the same, you're better off just learning from it instead of worrying about the mistakes you made.
"Happy about the score in the end, happy to have made a couple of putts when I needed to. The water caught me a couple of times. Holed a bunker shot on ten, which was nice.
"It's a new course for me, so it's also getting to know my misses and where to miss on this course. That takes time, but hopefully now I've seen enough of the course to know it. "
