Paratore leads the way and Chawrasia in top ten at Sweden

S.S.P Chawrasia at T8, Shiv Kapur at T27 after round 1 of Nordea Masters at Barsebäck Golf and Country Club. Paratore leads Rd 1 with 5-under 68.

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S.S.P.Chawrasia of India

June 1, 2017: Renato Paratore set the clubhouse target at the Nordea Masters as day one produced some tough scoring conditions at Barsebäck Golf and Country Club. India’s SSP Chawrasia scored 2-under-par 71 and tied at T8 to have a share in top ten bunch. Shiv Kapur also managed the winds to stay balanced at par 73 along with many other top contenders.

While the winds were not as high as they had been for the pro-am on Wednesday, they were still providing a tough test for the field, with just 12 of the early starters managing to get round under par.

Paratore was the best of them, recovering from two early bogeys to post a 68 and lead the way at five under.

The Italian had a career-best season in 2016, finishing 57th on the Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex, but has just a single top ten so far this term at the Trophée Hassan II.

Welsh duo Jamie Donaldson and Bradley Dredge were at four under, a shot clear of Frenchman Benjamin Hebert and England’s Eddie Pepperell.

Paratore was two over after four holes following bogeys on the third and fourth but battled back with birdies on the fifth, seventh and ninth to reach the turn in 35.

Another birdie on the tenth saw him edge closer to the early leaders and when he eagled the par five 12th, he was in a share of top spot. An excellent up-and-down from the sand on the 16th then saw him take the lead on his own and he agonisingly saw a putt for birdie and a two-shot advantage lip out on the last.

Donaldson – who had four consecutive top tens in this event from 2008 to 2011 – was among those early leaders after a hat-trick of birdies from the 18th. A run of six pars followed before a lengthy putt on the ninth left him in a strong position.

Countryman Dredge was a slower starter as he turned in 37 after starting on the tenth but came to life with four birdies in five holes on the home straight. He made gains on the fifth and sixth, rolled in a 20-footer on the seventh and then left himself a tap-in for birdie on the ninth.

Hebert had five birdies and two bogeys in his round, the highlight being a lengthy right-to-left putt on the fourth that briefly got him to four under par.

Pepperell had also been four under with gains on the seventh, 11th, 12th and 16th but he dropped his only shot of the day on the next.

SSP Chawrasia, Matthew Southgate and Jeff Winther were all also three under playing their first nine.

Scott Hend endured a roller coaster in his round with an eagle on the 12th and back-to-back birdies on the first and second briefly putting the Australian in the lead before a double-bogey on the next dropped him to two under.

Portuguese José-Filipe Lima was also at that mark after making four birdies and two bogeys in his 71, with Ashun Wu recording a single blemish and Sebastian Soderberg finishing bogey-bogey.

Pelle Edberg, Jaco Van Zyl and Thorbjørn Olesen were in the clubhouse at one under completing the under-par players from the morning.

None of those players came from the marquee group with defending champion Matthew Fitzpatrick and Henrik Stenson at level par and Alex Noren at two over.

European Tour Release

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