Aguilar and Hend share lead in blustery Scotland

Aguilar and Hend set target to lead the board at Castle Stuart

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Scottish Open – Round 1 report

8 July, 2016:  Felipe Aguilar and Scott Hend defied strong winds on day one of the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open to take a share of the lead at Castle Stuart, where links specialists Padraig Harrington and Graeme McDowell were among those lurking one shot back.

On an extremely tough scoring day at the Inverness venue, Chilean Aguilar and Australian Hend set the target courtesy of three under par rounds of 69, but a bunched field is lining up behind them with Harrington and McDowell joined in a share of third place by fellow Major Champion YE Yang.

Felipe Aguilar sharing lead of round 1 at Scottish Open
Felipe Aguilar sharing lead of round 1 at Scottish Open

“I’m quite happy. It was very difficult golf today, really windy after the second hole. You have to be really patient out here, but this is just the first day. The course is playing really difficult”, said Felipe Aguilar.

Multiple European Tour winners Alex Noren of Sweden and Englishman Andy Sullivan are also part of that chasing pack on two under par, whilst Luke Donald – who won at this venue in 2011 – is one of ten players on one under par.

Craig Lee, the leading Scot, is another one of those two shots off the pace while home favourite Russell Knox, who grew up in Inverness, is a shot further back on level par.

Phil Mickelson struggled in a round of 76, but with the wind set to die down on day two the five-time Major Champion will be hoping to take advantage of the more benign conditions and climb into contention to claim a second victory at Castle Stuart.

“It’s awesome fun, it doesn’t matter how hard it is. When you play links golf, it’s just awesome. I love it. It beats your head in, kicks you around, and sometimes you get it back. It’s just great fun. It’s exciting.”, ended Scott Hend.

First round scores:

69 S Hend (Aus) , F Aguilar (Chi) ,
70 T Hatton (Eng) , G McDowell  (Nir) , A Noren  (Swe) , A Sullivan (Eng) , R Bland (Eng) , P Harrington (Irl) , E Pepperell (Eng) , Y Yang (Kor) ,
71 B Dredge (Wal) , M Ilonen  (Fin) , D Lee  (Nzl) , C Lee (Sco) , A Levy (Fra) , R Cabrera Bello (Esp) , M Manassero (Ita) , R Sterne  (RSA) , L Donald  (Eng) , B Grace  (RSA) ,
72 R Ramsay  (Sco) , M Kaymer (Ger) , N Fasth (Swe) , J Lagergren (Swe) , R Rock (Eng) , J Doherty  (Sco) , E Molinari  (Ita) , J Singh (Ind) , J Campillo (Esp) , J Walters (RSA) , N Elvira  (Esp) , R Paratore (Ita) , A Dodt (Aus) , R Kakko  (Fin) , R Gouveia (Por) , W Ashun (Chn) , R Knox (Sco) , D Drysdale (Sco) , D Howell (Eng) , N Bertasio (Ita) , M Carlsson  (Swe) ,
73 J Quesne  (Fra) , M Southgate  (Eng) , C Paisley  (Eng) , T Pieters  (Bel) , M Fitzpatrick  (Eng) , M Warren (Sco) , T Bjørn (Den) , R Wattel  (Fra) , J Hansen  (Den) , S Khan (Eng) , P Larrazábal (Esp) , R Jacquelin (Fra) , G Havret  (Fra) , R Evans  (Eng) ,
74 A Cañizares  (Esp) , S Lee (Kor) , S Webster (Eng) , G Bourdy (Fra) , T Fleetwood  (Eng) , S Stricker (USA) , M Ford (Eng) , D Im (USA) , G Wright  (Wal) , S Kjeldsen (Den) , M Lorenzo-Vera  (Fra) , C Shinkwin (Eng) , J McLeary  (Sco) , D Lipsky (USA) , M Hoey  (Nir) , L Slattery (Eng) , P Meesawat  (Tha) , H Porteous (RSA) , M Korhonen (Fin) , N Colsaerts  (Bel) ,
75 B Hebert  (Fra) , M Kieffer (Ger) , O Fisher  (Eng) , J Carlsson (Swe) , B Evans  (Eng) , G Storm  (Eng) , A Wall (Eng) , C Hanson (Eng) , P Reed (USA) , A Otaegui  (Esp) , S Manley (Wal) , O Wilson (Eng) , S Gros (Fra) ,
76 R McEvoy  (Eng) , T Linard (Fra) , P Whiteford (Sco) , K Aphibarnrat (Tha) , S Jamieson  (Sco) , J Luiten (Ned) , L Bjerregaard  (Den) , J Morrison  (Eng) , R Fisher (Eng) , M Madsen  (Den) , L Jensen (Den) , H Stenson (Swe) , P Mickelson (USA) , A Johnston (Eng) ,
77 F Zanotti (Par) , D Horsey (Eng) , J Edfors (Swe) , L Haotong (Chn) , P McGinley (Irl) , B Åkesson (Swe) , S Lowry  (Irl) , T Jaidee (Tha) , G Boyd  (Eng) , J Gunn (Sco) ,
78 M Jiménez (Esp) , J Fahrbring (Swe) , J Parry (Eng) , T Olesen (Den) , R Green (Aus) , J Wang (Kor) , S Lyle (Sco) , C Montgomerie  (Sco) , D Brooks (Eng) , S Kapur (Ind) , N Holman  (Aus) , R Davies (Wal) , S Chawrasia (Ind) , P Dunne (Irl) , A Venter (am) (RSA) ,
79 R Dinwiddie  (Eng) , P Hanson (Swe) , K Nicol (Sco) , R McGowan  (Eng) , D Dixon (Eng) , G Coetzee (RSA) , C Berardo (Fra) ,
80 S Dyson  (Eng) , T Fisher Jnr (RSA) , M Siem  (Ger) , B Virto  (Esp) , P Edberg (Swe) , D Fichardt (RSA) , J Donaldson (Wal) , A McArthur  (Sco) , J Holmes (USA) , M Baldwin (Eng) , J Scrivener (Aus) ,
81 P Lawrie (Sco) , G Stal  (Fra) , E De La Riva  (Esp) , J Winther (Den) ,
82 J Lovemark (USA) , D Lingmerth (Swe) ,
83 A Forsyth (Sco) , B Rumford (Aus) ,
84 R Karlsson (Swe) ,
88 J Jeong (Kor) ,
** E España (Fra)

European Tour Release

 

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