Bernd Wiesberger takes early lead at European Open

Omnisports

September 22, 2016 5:14 AM

Bernd Wiesberger's stunning finish left him with a two-shot lead at the European Open, but the first round at Bad Griesbach will be completed on Friday.

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Dense fog in Germany delayed the start of proceedings by over three hours, but it did not put the Austrian off his stride, as he made five birdies on his opening nine holes after starting at the 10th.

Wiesberger went from 1 to 4 double bogey, birdie, birdie, bogey, but he picked up four shots from his final four holes - including an eagle at the par-five eighth on the back of a sensational approach from 280 yards.

Signing for an eight-under 63, Wiesberger is in a strong position to build on his runner-up finish last time out at the KLM Open and improve on last year's T67 finish at this event, when he began the weekend with a seven-under 64.

"I started 64 last year so I desperately wanted to hole that putt at the last today so there weren't too many memories of last year's round," he said.

"I'm thinking more of what happened today, keep pushing and playing the game I played today. What happened a year ago, it was a weird week and I know I'm not going to repeat that tomorrow.

"Obviously I played alright, had a couple of shots that cost me believe it or not. I hit it out of bounds on the first hole after I made a good turn, struggled a little bit.

"But I hit a lot of good shots, a lot of good putts and I'm happy with how I played today. It was a lot of red on the card, I don't think I've had that kind of round before."

Renato Paratore sits two shots off Wiesberger after he also turned in a strong showing after the turn, shooting an eagle at the 10th before successive birdies from 13 to 15 vaulted him up the leaderboard.

A clutch of five players sit a further shot back, although Matthew Southgate is unique among them in that he is yet to finish his opening round. The 27-year-old has only made five cuts since finishing fourth at the Irish Open in May.

Alexander Levy and Ross Fisher are lurking at four under through nine holes each, a score they share with German amateur Thomas Rosenmuller - who has played just six holes.

Ryder Cup participants Thomas Pieters (+2 thru 9) and Martin Kaymer (par thru 9) struggled to get going in their final outings before heading to Hazeltine.

Omnisports

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