A star-studded field from 22 different countries has arrived at Sheshan International Golf Club, all looking to score valuable points in The Race to Dubai
Branden Grace fired a rock solid -9, 63 to open up a one shot lead on this opening day. Already a two-time winner on The European Tour this season, he is in a good position to move up from his current spot of sixth as he finished the first round five shots clear of an ailing Race to Dubai leader Rory McIlroy.
Norway's Thorbjørn Olesen who birdied 5 of his first 6 holes, Aussie Steven Bowditch and American Kevin Kisner are all a shot behind the South African after -8 64's with 15 players within four shots of the lead. on a dull overcast day in Shanghai where 41 players posted scores in the 60's.
Grace is currently 1,110,197 points behind McIlroy in the battle to be Europe's number one but with big prizes on offer in The Final Series, the 27 year old will be looking to overtake the Northern Irishman.
Grace is currently 1,110,197 points behind McIlroy in the battle to be Europe's number one but with big prizes on offer in The Final Series, the 27 year old will be looking to overtake the Northern Irishman.
In form Englishman Danny Willett has been in the top two all year, trails McIlroy by 399,385 points and continued his fine play with -7 65 to sit just two shots off the lead alongside Dustin Johnson who has been amazing the crowd and commentators with his extraordinary power, and Patrick Reed.
Jordan Spieth coming off a 14 day holiday, lost his ball on the 17th and a pale sickly looking McIlroy are at -4, 68 as are defending champion Bubba Watson who turned 37 today and led the field with a 322 yard driving average, Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year award contender Matthew Fitzpatrick and Louis Oosthuizen.
Grace summed up the day in his post round interview "Barely had a breath of wind out there and the golf course is playing probably as easy as it could be playing. There's some low scores out there. The guys are playing some great golf, and when you play on greens like this as well it helps. You just have to get the ball on the right line and it goes in."
Bryan Angus
(notes from europeantour.com)
Jordan Spieth coming off a 14 day holiday, lost his ball on the 17th and a pale sickly looking McIlroy are at -4, 68 as are defending champion Bubba Watson who turned 37 today and led the field with a 322 yard driving average, Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year award contender Matthew Fitzpatrick and Louis Oosthuizen.
Grace summed up the day in his post round interview "Barely had a breath of wind out there and the golf course is playing probably as easy as it could be playing. There's some low scores out there. The guys are playing some great golf, and when you play on greens like this as well it helps. You just have to get the ball on the right line and it goes in."
Bryan Angus
(notes from europeantour.com)
No comments:
Post a Comment