England’s James Hepworth, Finland’s Roope Kakko and Fabrizio Zanotti of Paraguay shared the honour of leading the first Challenge Tour event of season 2006 as the trio all carded five under par 66s at the Club de Golf La Hacienda course in Mexico City to claim the joint lead after the first round of the 48 Abierto Mexicano Corona. That truly international trio hold a two stroke advantage over the defending champion and 2005 Challenge Tour graduate Rafael Gomez of Argentina, who posted an opening score of three under par 68 to share fourth place with the English duo of James Heath and Denny Lucas, Hernan Rey of Argentina and Guatemala’s Alejandro Villavicencio.
Conditions at the 7306 yard par 71 Club de Golf La for the opening event of the 2006 Challenge Tour Schedule were perfect as 148 players from 23 nations began the long journey towards The 2007 European Tour.
Hepworth, Kakko and Zanotti were the players who used the excellent conditions to the best of their advantage over the opening 18 holes of this prestigious US$305,000 event that boast a highly impressive list of former champions including Lee Trevino, Ben Crenshaw, Tommy Armour III and Eduardo Romero.
After a slow start of seven pars, Hepworth, who won in Mexico two years ago at the American Express Los Enicos Open, got his bid to join those illustrious past champions underway with two solid 20 foot birdie putts at the eighth and ninth to change his fortunes.
“After missing the fairway and the green, I holed a good one of the green from about twenty feet at the eight. Then I birdied the ninth from about twenty feet too”, said the 30-year old Englishman, who went on to collect four birdies and one bogey on the back nine for his 66.
“I seem to do well in Mexico for some reason. Obviously the win in 2003 helped go a long to me winning my European Tour card through the Challenge Tour and that is why I am back in Mexico – to get the season off to as good a start as possible because 2005 was very up and down. I started quite well, but then lost my way mid-way through the season.”
Kakko, another Challenge Tour winner, was the only one of the three leaders to negotiate the Club de Golf La Hacienda without dropping a shot in the opening round. The 23 year old, who won the 2004 Volvo Finnish Open as an Amateur, was luck to do so after a poor approach to the 18th green left him a ten foot putt to save his par.
"That was a very important putt, a long par putt and I was very happy to get away with the par there after that second shot which was terrible,” said Kakko.
Zannoti, meanwhile, joined his European counterparts by putting seven birdies, two bogeys and nine pars on his card. The man from Asuncion’s Yacht Club started at the 10th to shoot even par on his front nine. After paring the first and the second, he started a hot streak of four consecutive birdies between the third and the sixth before bogeying the seventh and then coming back strongly with an impressive birdie-birdie finish. “I played very well all day. I left the ball close to the hole all day long,” said Zanotti.
