Wade Ormsby Leads Scandinavian Invitation After First Round 62

Australian Wade Ormsby holds the lead of the Scandinavian Invitation after shooting an eight-under-par first round of 62.

Wade Ormsby, who has a victory on the European Tour, had six birdies and an eagle in his error-free round at Hills Golf Club, just outside Gothenburg in Sweden.

He started on the back nine and holed out from 196 yards on the 14th for an eagle. He then birdied 16, 17, and 18 to go out in 28.

Ormsby holds a one-shot lead after the first round, while home hopeful Joakim Lagergren and Frenchman Alexander Levy sat at -7 after Thursday’s play.

Like Ormsby, the Frenchman played the back nine in just 28 shots, with six birdies and three pars. Levy also had two birdies and a bogey on the front nine to shoot 63.

Lagergren, on the other hand, went bogey-free like the Australian to finish the day in a tie for second. A further shot back sits Englishman Matt Fitzpatrick, whose round of 64 included this lovely approach to the 7th for his sixth birdie of the day.

Serial European Tour title chaser Erik van Rooyen is in a tie for 5th alongside England’s Matthew Southgate at -5, three shots back.

Last week’s first-round leader, Gavin Green, sits at -4, along with the American pair of John Catlin and Sihwan Kim, South African Dean Burmester, and Englishman James Morrison.

Swedish amateur David Nyfjall shot 67 on the first day at Hills and is the leading home hope after Lagergren. He is joined by compatriots Alexander Bjork and Sebastian Soderberg in the group tied for 12th after the first day.

Overall, 50 men shot in the red on the first day at the par-70 Hills Golf Club, with the Swedish pair of Henrik Stenson and Marcus Kinhult just nipping in that group at -1.

One of the men to finish the day at level par was Australian Adam Bland. The World No.727 won one of the biggest prizes of the week, as his hole-in-one on the par-3 10th saw him take home the keys to a brand new car!

It was a different story for the two-time Scandinavian Invitation champion Alex Noren. The home favourite could only manage a two-over-par round of 72 on the first day, which included three bogeys and a double.

The second round action gets underway at 07:30 local time (UTC+2) on Friday morning, with Philip Eriksson, Min Woo Lee and Julian Sure teeing off from the first, while Jeunghun Wang, Oliver Fisher and David Lingmerth will start on the 10th.

Overnight leader Wade Ormsby will start his second round from first at 13:20 local time, while Alex Noren will look to recover from his poor opening round at 08:00, alongside Paul Waring and Erik van Rooyen.

Leaderboard:

• 1 (-8): Wade Ormsby (AUS)
• T2 (-7): Joakim Lagergren (SWE), Alexander Levy (FRA)
• 4 (-6): Matt Fitzpatrick (ENG)
• T5 (-5): Erik van Rooyen (RSA), Matthew Southgate (ENG)
• T7 (-4): James Morrison (ENG), Gavin Green (MAS), Dean Burmester (RSA), Sihwan Kim (USA), John Catlin (USA)

Selected Others:

• T12 (-3): Nicolas Colsaerts (BEL), Benjamin Hebert (FRA), David Nyfjall (AM, SWE)
• T25 (-2): Bradley Dredge (WAL), Paul Waring (ENG), Soren Kjeldsen (DEN), Rikard Karlberg (SWE)
• T35 (-1): Jamie Donaldson (WAL), Henrik Stenson (SWE), Marcus Kinhult (SWE), George Coetzee (RSA)
• T51 (E): Stephen Gallacher (SCO), Joost Luiten (NED), Andrew Johnston (ENG), Adam Bland (AUS), Haydn Porteous (RSA), Johan Edfors (SWE), Edoardo Molinari (ITA), Zander Lombard (RSA)
• T71 (+1): Adrian Otaegui (ESP), Vincent Norrman (AM, SWE), Albin Bergstrom (AM, SWE)
• T87 (+2): Alex Noren (SWE), Robert MacIntyre (SCO), Chris Wood (ENG)
• T108 (+3): David Howell (ENG), Victor Dubuisson (FRA), Brandon Stone (RSA)
• T124 (+4): Andrea Pavan (ITA), Robert Karlsson (SWE)