A bogey free first round of five under par 65 ensured Jaako Mäkitalo of a place atop the Skandia PGA Open leaderboard, after which the Finn revealed he is hoping to follow the recent European Challenge Tour successes of countrymen Roope Kakko and Toni Karjalainen – both of whom have recorded victories on the Challenge Tour in the past two seasons.
Mäkitalo has been playing most of his golf on the Third Level Nordic League this season, but changed gears seamlessly to step up to the Challenge Tour and lead Englishman Gary Clark, Ireland’s Colm Moriarty and David Patrick of Scotland by a single stoke after round one at the Arlandstad Golf Club in Sweden.
Two Swedes – Kalle Brink and Per Nyman – share fifth place with the English pair of Stuart Davis and Marcus Higley as well as Austria’s Martin Wiegele on three under par, with a further nine players tied together on two under.
Mäkitalo was one of three players not to drop a stroke at Arlandstad, the others being Moriarty and England’s Chris Gane, who is among the ten strong group of players on two under par. That was the key to the Finn’s excellent opening round and he hopes to continue that fine form into the final three rounds.
The 23 year old came into the Skandia PGA Open having finished second on The Nordic League last weekend, and is looking to repeat that kind of performance at the superior level of the Challenge Tour.
“Going bogey free was important for my confidence today,” said Mäkitalo. “I think it helped that I was playing with guys who I usually play with on The Nordic League because if I had been paired with players from the Challenge Tour I may have been about how good these players well and not have concentrated on my own game.
“But I felt comfortable at this level and hopefully I can continue to play well. I think being good friends with Roope and Toni helps me as well because I feel that I am as good a player as they are.
“Obviously they both have better records than me because they have won on the Challenge Tour, but I feel I am as capable as them. I think with what they have done recently, and of course what Miko Illonen has done, has been very good for the development of Finnish golf. Players from Finland are starting to believe that they can compete at a high level and that is going to help the Finnish players develop even more.”
