Denver-based Australian Matthew Zions adopted the old adage of “one shot at a time” and was rewarded with the first round lead in the Valle Romano Open de Andalucia at Aloha Golf Club on Spain’s Costa del Sol.
The 28 year old, a graduate of all three stages of The European Tour Qualifying School last year, carded eight birdies and a solitary bogey in an opening seven under par round of 65 to take a one stroke lead over Spaniard Alejandro Canizares with co-promoter Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano one of five players tied on 67, five under par.
Zions admitted that his decision just to go with the flow had had the desired effect. He said: “It felt good – nice and easy. Recently I’ve made golf more difficult than it should be instead of just picking a target and seeing where it goes.
“I just switched off my brain on the greens and the ball was disappearing from everywhere. It’s taken me a while to adjust to life on Tour – it can be a little intimidating out there – but I’ve gone back to basics and just plugged away.”
Apart from the obvious geographical problems of travelling from the United States, Zions’ journey to The European Tour has been a long and convoluted one. In Stage One of the Qualifying School, he need to two putt from 100 feet to qualify at St Annes Old Links right on the mark.
He achieved that goal and proceeded to weave a path through Stage Two and the final Stage.
“It’s been interesting” he said. “Because I live in the US, I originally came over here to warm up for the Qualifying School in America, but I played well at San Roque to get my card and realised that it’s really friendly here. I enjoy hanging out with a great bunch of guys.”
Canizares blitzed the front nine at Aloha in 31 on his way to a 66. The 2006 Russian Open champion commented: “That felt really good – and it’s been a while since I could say that. I hit a lot of nice wedges to the green and managed to knock the ball close. I’ve been struggling recently and my mind seems to have been somewhere else, but I feel more confident now.”
Former Ryder Cup player, Swede Joakim Haeggman, was in the group on 67 along with Fernandez-Castano, winner of last week’s Telecom Italia Open after the play-off with Markus Brier of Austria.
Haeggman's five-under par score was not without incident. The Swede had to repel an attack by a goose on the 18th (his ninth). However, he recovered his calm on an impressive back nine before dropping a late shot.
He said: "The goose came over to me and at first I laughed about it. But when I put my hand down it wanted to have a go at it and I had to give it a slap across the face, I had no choice.”
Haeggman is battling back after a shoulder injury cost him his card last season. His rehabilitation in the eight tournaments he has played this season has not been successful either, with seven cuts missed.
"The injury and then poor driving and putting has been a lethal combination," the Swede said.
