Lucas Bjerregaard will take a one-shot lead into the second round at the 100th Open de France after charging into the lead at Le Golf National thanks to a career first hole in one with a brand new set of golf clubs.
The Dane had made just three of his last ten cuts but he found his form on the biggest stage with an elite field gathered at the course where the Ryder Cup will be held in 2018.
He made the 26th hole-in-one of the European Tour season on the second hole as he signed for a five under par 66 and would not be caught on a day of sun and occasional showers in Paris.
But while he goes in search of a first European Tour title, defending champion Bernd Wiesberger, Thongchai Jaidee and Thomas Pieters – who all sat just a shot back – have 12 between them.
World Number Four Rory McIlroy carded an opening score of level par 71 before revealing the swing changes he is working on to get ready for the upcoming Open Championship.
Bjerregaard was playing with totally new clubs after his were lost in transit but he showed no ill-effects as he holed from 202 yards with a seven iron on the second. He followed that with three birdies and a bogey in the next four holes and came home in 34.
Wiesberger opened with three birdies in his first four holes and the Austrian added further gains on the 15th and 16th with a single bogey on the eighth. Belgian Pieters had set the clubhouse target early as he recorded five birdies and a bogey before Jaidee and Spain’s Adrian Otaegui joined him at four under late in the day.
Lucas Bjerregaard: “It was a great way to start my round. It’s my first-ever hole-in-one, so that was pretty sweet. So I started off on one, hit a bad drive in the rough. Had to lay up, up-and-down, and saved my par. Then hit a great shot on two. It was a perfect number for a 7-iron there, downwind. Hit a great shot straight at it. We couldn’t really see it. It looked like it went in, but about five guys just back of the green, nobody clapped or reacted in any way, and then Matteo said he thought he could see it right behind the pin. Grabbed my putter out and we started walking, and when we got a little closer, we could see no ball on the green.
“My clubs got lost on the way down here. Still not found them yet, so Nike made me a new set yesterday. Luckily I’m with a great team that made the exact same clubs that I have. I haven’t really noticed too much. But yeah, maybe I should just keep these now and let the airline company keep my old ones!”
Rory McIlroy: “There was a little bit of adventure in there, four bogeys, four birdies. There was quite a few good shots in there which I was pleased with, a few loose ones, as well. With what I’ve been doing on my golf swing and trying to work on it a bit, that’s to be expected, first round back. But I felt like I saw some good signs out there today. Held some nice putts. Hit some good iron shots. So it’s slowly coming together.
“My left-hand grip is too strong. Takeaway was going on the inside. Wasn’t holding my right elbow properly at the top of my swing. I wasn’t getting my right knee out of the way on the downswing, so yeah, I’ve been working on a few things. I’ve got about four or five swing thoughts out there at the minute, so that’s why I’m sort of happy with 71 with how much I’m focusing on my golf swing and my technique. I felt I did okay.
“I’ve got another hopefully three competitive rounds here. I’ve got all next week, and then obviously a few days leading up to the Thursday of The Open. So hopefully by then, it will be all bedded in. I think the hardest thing is I haven’t focused on my grip. I changed my grip when I was maybe 12 years old and I’ve played with it since. But it’s progressively the left hand got a bit stronger and stronger, and that clubface is coming in closed at impact. Gripping the club feels quite strange at the minute but I just need to stay with it – it’s the right thing to do.”
