20 August 2021: After a thrilling opening day at the Albatross Golf Resort, Maverick Antcliff and Henrik Stenson secured a one-stroke advantage over a packed field carding five under par rounds of 67 in the Czech Masters. There are three Indians in the field this week, with Shubhankar Sharma taking a rest after playing in six of the last seven weeks. SSP Chawrasia and Shiv Kapur got off to a fine start, shooting two under 70 each. But Ajeetesh Sandhu is four strokes back from his compatriots on a bunched up leaderboard.
Chawrasia made five birdies on Thursday. He was three-under through the first eight holes. But he fell back to even par with bogeys on 8, 10 and 14, sliding back to even par despite all the hard work. Remarkably, the experienced Indian shot back to back birdies on 15 & 16 to secure a solid 70 to his name.
Shiv Kapur, playing sparsely this season, is still looking to make his first cut this year on the European Tour. He got off to a smooth start, birdies at 2, 11 and 12 helping him reach three-under, much like Chawrasia. His fourth birdie of the day was sandwiched between bogeys on 16 & 18 as he too settled for a card of 70.
The two Indians are sitting inside the top-20 at T18 with seventeen other golfers, just showing how densely packed the leaderboard is after a busy opening round.
Ajeetesh Sandhu suffered an early jolt, enduring a double on the par-3 third hole. He would take 39 strokes to go past the bend after a five on the par-4 eighth hole nudged him further down the order.
He seemed to restore parity though, as he produced three birdies in four holes at the start of his second nine. Unfortunately for the Indian, he copped a similar return from the course, when he conceded three in four holes, through the 17th hole. A final birdie at the 18th repaired some of the damage, but at 74 he has plenty left to do to secure his weekend.
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Perfect Start for Henrik Stenson – European Tour Release
Stenson made a perfect start in the Czech capital as he hopes to force his way into Ryder Cup contention with strong performances in the final four counting qualification events. It is the first time the 45-year-old has held or shared a first round lead on the European Tour since the start of the 2017 season.
The highlight of the Swede’s bogey-free round came on the par five ninth hole as he hit his second shot with his famed three wood to within three feet, tapping in for eagle. Antcliff, of Australia, moved to five under par with his sixth birdie of the day on the par four 17th hole.
“I’m very happy with the score. I hit some really good shots, on nine in particular, those two good ones. There were a couple of swings I’m not overly happy with – my commitment – I’ve been working hard on the swing, I need to keep on working hard. I still managed to miss in the right places and kept it tidy around the greens and the putter was working fine today,” explained Stenson. “I’m happy with the score and the progress I’m making. Commitment can be a little better and confidence can definitely be a little bit better.
“Nine, I hit a really good drive off the tee and it left me all of a three wood left. That was one of the best three woods I’ve hit for years and years. I hit a really good one in the Pro-Am as well, so it was copy and paste and it’s nice to have a three-footer for eagle.”
Nine competitors share third on four under par, including home favourite Ond?ej Lieser, who recovered from bogeys on his opening two holes, 2016 champion Paul Peterson of the United States and 2016 Masters Tournament winner Danny Willett, who is also staking a claim for a place in Pádraig Harrington’s team at Whistling Straits next month.
“A little bit up and down: seven birdies, a bogey and a double,” said Willett. “Lots of good and a couple of iffy ones we got punished for. A nice start to the week. I played yesterday, it’s slightly different to how I remember it. A little bit more defined. I was intrigued to see how scoring would go, with a bit of wind over the last three days – kind of what I thought. Scores around here are notoriously quite low, it’ll maybe be slightly higher this year with how the wind and the weather has been.”
Scores after Round One:
67 M ANTCLIFF (AUS), H STENSON (SWE),
68 S HORSFIELD (ENG), D BURMESTER (RSA), O LIESER (CZE), T PULKKANEN (FIN), S CROCKER (USA), N H?JGAARD (DEN), P PETERSON (USA), D WILLETT (ENG), A MERONK (POL),
69 J KASKE (FIN), S HEISELE (GER), M SCHNEIDER (GER), J KRUYSWIJK (RSA), A COCKERILL (CAN), D VAN TONDER (RSA),
70 S CHAWRASIA (IND), S TILEY (ENG), D YOUNG (SCO), P ERIKSSON (SWE), R FOX (NZL), P HARRINGTON (IRL), S KAPUR (IND), R MANSELL (ENG), J RITCHIE (RSA), G STAL (FRA), P ANGLES (ESP), O FISHER (ENG), J WRISDALE (ENG), J LAGERGREN (SWE), S KJELDSEN (DEN), N LEMKE (SWE), T LEE (KOR), S SODERBERG (SWE), R MCGOWAN (ENG),
71 A PENDARIES (FRA), J VEERMAN (USA), R ROUSSEL (FRA), C SHINKWIN (ENG), Z LOMBARD (RSA), G MOYNIHAN (IRL), S KIM (USA), M POSPISIL (CZE), L SLATTERY (ENG), J JANEWATTANANOND (THA), J LUITEN (NED), R SABBATINI (SVK), N BERTASIO (ITA), V NORRMAN (SWE), M SIEM (GER), D LAWSON (AUS), N VON DELLINGSHAUSEN (GER),
72 L VAN MEIJEL (NED), A ZEMMER (ITA), L DE JAGER (RSA), D PERRIER (FRA), M SCHMITT (GER), B MACPHERSON (AUS), E CUARTERO BLANCO (ESP), S V?LIM?KI (FIN), B EVANS (ENG), T GANDY (IMN), D HOWELL (ENG), C SORDET (FRA), Y CHANG (KOR), B HENSON (USA), H PORTEOUS (RSA), F MRUZEK (CZE), B STONE (RSA), M ZAPLETAL (CZE), H LEON (CHI),
73 L JOHNSTON (SCO), J CAFOUREK (CZE), B POKE (DEN), R WATTEL (FRA), M BALDWIN (ENG), D FICHARDT (RSA), J MCLEOD (AUS), T TETAK (AM) (SVK), J GEARY (NZL),
74 D COUPLAND (ENG), A PAVAN (ITA), A ARNAUS (ESP), B EASTON (RSA), R KARLBERG (SWE), J SANDBORG (SWE), C HANNA (USA), G PORTEOUS (ENG), M FEUERSTEIN (USA), J ZUSKA (AM) (CZE), B RITTHAMMER (GER), G GREEN (MAS), R PARATORE (ITA), M BACA (AM) (CZE), J GUERRIER (FRA), A SANDHU (IND), J BARES (CZE), A KORINEK (CZE),
