Golf

Solid start for Henrik Stenson as Swedes lead the way

18-year-old amateur Marcus Kinhult leads field in difficult conditions

Henrik Stenson plays out of a bunker on the 11th fairway on day one of the Nordea Masters at the PGA Sweden National in Malmo. Photo: Harry Engels/Getty Images)
Thu Jun 04 2015 - 22:21

World number four Henrik Stenson made a solid start to his bid for a first European Tour title on home soil, but found himself upstaged by compatriot Marcus Kinhult, an 18-year-old amateur ranked 1,273rd.

Stenson carded an opening 70 in the Nordea Masters at PGA Sweden National to lie three shots behind Kinhult and fellow Swede Jens Dantorp, as well as England’s Chris Paisley.

Peter Lawrie led the five-man Irish challenge with a 69, two off the lead. Gareth Maybin carded a level par 72 while Michael Hoey shot a 74. Kevin Phelan (76) and Damien McGrane (78) have some work to do to make the cut.

Kinhult was pleased to be leading the Swedish challenge. “It’s pretty special to play in a European Tour event and to be playing here in Sweden,” he said. Kinhult was one over par after eight holes but birdied six of his remaining 10 to join Dantorp and Paisley on five under par.

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“It was (down to) brilliant putting. It was solid from tee to green and I made a lot of putts, for birdie and par. The putter was pretty hot on the back nine.”

Lytham Trophy win

Kinhult won the prestigious Lytham Trophy by eight shots at the start of May but added on European Tour Radio: “I did not expect much, just to have a great week and gain some experience. That’s what I’m here for. So far so good. I hope I can keep this up and make a lot of birdies.” Dantorp usually plays on the Challenge Tour and was second in his last event a fortnight ago, but also shared the lead after the first round in his home city 12 month ago before fading to finish 57th.

“I putted really well today, which was the key to my score,” he said. “There are a couple of things I need to improve with my shots, but my putting made up for it. I know the course really well, so actually in practice I only played four holes because of the wind and rain.”

Windy conditions

Nine players shared fourth place on four under, including English duo Tom Lewis and Lee Slattery, who experienced similar windy conditions in last week’s Irish Open.

“We seem to have had a lot of wind the last few weeks and it was more of the same today,” Slattery said. “After last week it felt a bit easier, but four under is still a good score. We can’t get out of the waterproofs; the last few weeks have been really tricky and certainly will have toughened us up for the next stretch of events. It’s so easy to under-club here as there’s nothing to stop the wind.”