Czech Masters: Defending Champion Thomas Pieters Well-Positioned After Round 1
By Adam McGee
After a strong showing at the Olympics, Thomas Pieters returned to the Czech Masters to defend his title and started in impressive fashion.
With a field with deceptive depth taking to the course at Albatross Golf Resort in Prague, it didn’t take very long for the cream to start to rise to the top of the leaderboard at the D+D REAL Czech Masters.
After something of a hiatus of late thanks to major championships and the Olympic Games, the European Tour finally got back into full swing on Thursday.
With some nice play from familiar names in the opening round, it looks as if we’re all set up for what should be an exciting tournament in the Czech Republic too.
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England’s Ryan Evans birdied the 18th hole of his round to secure his status as a surprise first round leader. Evans has no pro wins to his name, and hasn’t finished better than tied-12th this season, but an opening 66 has him positioned to attempt to buck both of those trends.
Ranked at no. 64 in the world, 24-year-old Thomas Pieters picked up his first European Tour win at this event 12 months ago. A three-stroke win here in 2015 set the tone for the great play Pieters has shown since.
That journey likely culminated last week with a fourth placed finish at the Olympic Games. In reality, if it wasn’t for a third round 77, Pieters could have been the Olympic champion. Perhaps, with that still on his mind, he played on Thursday like a man looking to prove a point.
Having started with a birdie on the first, the Belgian went on to amass seven birdies and a double-bogey for an opening round of 67 and a five-under-par tally that placed him near the top of the leaderboard.
Pieters wasn’t the only man to reach that number either. Sweden’s Peter Hanson may not have won since 2012, but the 2010 champion of the old Czech Open clearly has fond memories of playing in the Czech Republic.
A member of the European Ryder Cup team in both 2010 and 2012, Hanson has top class pedigree as evidenced by a bogey-free 67 of his own. The 38-year-old turned home in 32 strokes to finish his round in style.
With the countdown to this year’s Ryder Cup well and truly on, there were a number of notable players hoping to take a big stride towards securing their spot on the team this week.
Currently the last man in on the standings heading into this event, Matthew Fitzpatrick has started strongly. In spite of some wayward strikes, the young Englishman rallied for an opening 69 and sits in a tie for 11th.
Lee Westwood is intent on making a move to force his way into the team, or at the very least to persuade his good friend Darren Clarke that he has the form to contribute as a captain’s pick. A two-under round of 70 here has him well-placed to do just that at the weekend.
Other notable first round showings came from another Swede and former Ryder Cup star, Robert Karlsson (four-under, 68), former Open champion, Paul Lawrie (three-under, 69) and the Wild Thing, John Daly (three-under, 69).
Czech Masters – Day 1 Scores and Leaderboard
1 Ryan Evans – 66 (-6)
T2 Thomas Pieters – 67 (-5)
T2 Peter Hanson – 67 (-5)
T4 Craig Lee – 68 (-4)
T4 Jeff Winther – 68 (-4)
T4 Bradley Dredge – 68 (-4)
T4 Robert Coles – 68 (-4)
T4 Scott Jamieson – 68 (-4)
T4 Robert Karlsson – 68 (-4)
T4 Graeme Storm – 68 (-4)
Next: Henrik Stenson Is Swinging His Way to a Career Year
Action resumes at 7.15am local time on Friday as the early frontrunners look to continue to build momentum.