Golf

Jeff Winther’s laidback preparations pay off with opening 62 at Mallorca Open

Jonathan Caldwell and Paul Dunne take advantage of early start with good opening rounds

Jonathan Caldwell plays his second shot on the 10th hole during the first round of the Mallorca Open at Golf Santa Ponsa. Photograph: Andrew Redington/Getty Images

Thu Oct 21 2021 - 19:27

A relaxed approach paid dividends for Denmark's Jeff Winther as he claimed the lead after day one of the Mallorca Golf Open.

Winther bogeyed his first hole at Santa Ponsa but then birdied 10 of the next 14 and needed to play the last three in two under par to shoot 59 on the par-70 layout.

The score would not have counted for record purposes due to the preferred lies in operation and, in the end, Winther dropped his second shot of the day on the 17th before signing for an eight-under-par 62.

“I’m very pleased,” Winther told Sky Sports. “I didn’t have any expectations going into this. I’ve got my family here so we’re just trying to enjoy it.

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“Took the whole day off yesterday [Wednesday], didn’t touch a club, warmed up on the range where we’re only allowed to hit five-irons and apparently that’s the way to do it.

“We played in no wind the first 14 holes probably and it was almost a two-club wind on the last, so it was getting difficult.”

The trickier afternoon conditions meant Winther's score could not be matched, with Sweden's Niklas Lemke and South Africa's Bryce Easton a shot off the lead on seven under.

Lemke, who carded an eagle and five birdies in his bogey-free 63 said: “The course is pretty straightforward, but it’s always nice to go bogey-free.

“I hit a terrible tee shot on the first and made par, after that it was pretty solid. One of those days where you feel in control. I had a bad warm-up but felt pretty good on the golf course.”

Germany's Matti Schmid and Bernd Ritthammer were another stroke back on six under alongside Spain's Alvaro Quiros and Jorge Campillo, who won the Spanish Under-14s title at the same venue in 2000.

Former world number one Martin Kaymer is six shots off the pace after the two-time Major winner carded an opening 68 which included six birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey.

The change in conditions was reflected in the scores of the five Irish players in action, with Jonathan Caldwell (66) and Paul Dunne (67) making hay with their morning starts but Cormac Sharvin and Niall Kearney, who both carded 71s, and Gavin Moynihan (77) were well down the leaderboard.

Caldwell carded six birdies and two bogeys in his round, with Dunne making five birdies and also dropping two shots with bogeys on the eighth and 14th holes.

Leaderboard

British and Irish unless stated (par 70)

62 Jeff Winther (Den)

63 Niklas Lemke (Swe), Bryce Easton (Rsa)

64 Jorge Campillo (Esp), Matthias Schmid (Ger), Alvaro Quiros (Esp), Bernd Ritthammer (Ger)

65 Pep Angles (Esp), Zander Lombard (Rsa), Nino Bertasio (Ita), Jazz Janewattananond (Tha), Joel Sjoeholm (Swe), Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Esp)

66 Sebastian Soederberg (Swe), Eddie Pepperell, Ashun Wu (Chn), Jonathan Caldwell, Andrew Johnston, Matthieu Pavon (Fra), Connor Syme, Sebastian Garcia (Esp), Aaron Cockerill (Can), Adrien Saddier (Fra), Rhys Enoch, Jacobo Pastor (Esp), Zhengkai Bai (Chn)

67 Lucas Bjerregaard (Den), Ignacio Elvira (Esp), John Catlin (USA), Joachim B Hansen (Den), Adrian Otaegui (Esp), Romain Langasque (Fra), Jacques Kruyswijk (Rsa), Sean Crocker (USA), Victor Dubuisson (Fra), Rikard Karlberg (Swe), Alejandro Canizares (Esp), Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra), Carlos Pigem (Esp), Paul Dunne, Josh Geary (Nzl), Thomas Aiken (Rsa)

68 Martin Kaymer (Ger), Marcus Kinhult (Swe), Renato Paratore (Ita), Thomas Pieters (Bel), Oliver Wilson, Gavin Green (Mal), Jack Senior, Robin Roussel (Fra), Oliver Farr, Dale Whitnell, Laurie Canter, Lars van Meijel (Ned), Eduardo de la Riva (Esp), Jordan Wrisdale

69 Benjamin Hebert (Fra), Richie Ramsay, Soeren Kjeldsen (Den), Oliver Fisher, Gregory Bourdy (Fra), Matthew Jordan, Garrick Porteous, Louis de Jager (Rsa), Max Schmitt (Ger)

70 Ondrej Lieser (Cze), Richard Mansell, Joost Luiten (Ned), Ross McGowan, Ryan Fox (Nzl), Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra), Matthew Southgate, Lorenzo Gagli (Ita), James Morrison, Joel Stalter (Fra), Svn-Hwan Kim (USA), Toby Tree, Kristoffer Reitan (Nor), Ben Evans, Damien Perrier (Fra), Marcel Siem (Ger)

71 Wilco Nienaber (Rsa), Scott Hend (Aus), Alexander Bjoerk (Swe), Nicolai von Dellingshausen (Ger), Adria Arnaus (Esp), Jordan Smith, David Drysdale, Ashley Chesters, David Howell, Cormac Sharvin, Pedro Figueiredo (Por), Lee Slattery, Daniel Young, Niall Kearney

72 Gaganjeet Bhullar (Ind), Ricardo Santos (Por), Darius van Driel (Ned), Maverick Antcliff (Aus), Robin Sciot-Siegrist (Fra), Gregory Havret (Fra), Romain Wattel (Fra)

73 Toni Ferrer (Esp), Frank Kennedy, David Coupland, Clement Sordet (Fra), Emilio Cuartero (Esp)

74 Matt Ford, Pablo Larrazabal (Esp), Benjamin Poke (Den), Jens Fahrbring (Swe), Liam Johnston, Tyler Koivisto (USA), Mario Galiano (Esp), Samuel Del Val (Esp)

75 Richard McEvoy, Philip Eriksson (Swe)

77 Victor Miron (Esp), Gavin Moynihan

82 Haydn Porteous (Rsa)

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