Johannessen Leads After Open de Espana Opening Day

Norway’s Kristian Krogh Johannessen is the solo leader after the opening round of the Open de Espana, after shooting a brilliant 63.

Johannessen had just one blip on his card, with a bogey on the 16th, but seven birdies and an eagle two at the 14th helped push him into a two-shot lead around the par-71 Black Course at the Club de Campo Villa de Madrid.

The Norwegian Johannessen sits outside the top 900 in the Official World Golf Rankings and is yet to win on the European Tour, but this start could turn into something magical for the 24-year-old.

He sits at -8 after his first 18 holes, two shots clear of Adri Arnaus. The Spaniard started his week from the 10th hole, and he had a run of four birdies and an eagle on the back nine to see him make the turn in just 29. A bogey and a birdie on the front nine saw Arnaus come home with a round of 65, sitting at -6.

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He is a further shot clear of a group of six who sit at -5, including home hopes Rafa Cabrera Bello and Jon Rahm, the latter being the reigning champion of this event.

RCB went bogey-free in his opening round of 66, while Rahm is looking to make a move to the top of the Race to Dubai standings with a good result in Madrid.

South Africa’s Dean Burmester, Welshman Jamie Donaldson, Germany’s Marcel Siem, and Italian Andrea Pavan are also among that group at -5.

Two more Spaniards are inside the top ten after Thursday’s action, in Adrian Otaegui and Samuel del Val, with the pair both carding 67 on opening day.

They are in a tie for 9th at -4, alongside England’s Matthew Nixon, Sweden’s Jens Dantorp, South African Zander Lombard, Aussie Jason Scrivener, Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts, India’s Gaganjeet Bhullar and American Sihwan Kim.

Also among those at -3 is Miguel Angel Jimenez. The 55-year-old carded his 27th sub-70 round at the Open de Espana on the first day, and he showed the crowd he still had it!

He is joined by fellow Spaniard Eduardo de la Riva and Italy’s Matteo Manassero among several others at -3, five shots back after the opening round.

Former Masters champion Sergio Garcia sits at -2 after his opening round of 69. He is joined by Ross Fisher and Edoardo Molinari on the mark, all in among the group at -2.

Raphael Jacquelin and Bernd Ritthammer are among those at -1, in the final group of players managing to get under par in their first rounds at Club de Campo Villa.

In total, 66 players were able to get into the red numbers on Thursday, with a further 18 shooting a level-par round of 71 on the first day.

There were some big names who carded over-par rounds on day one, including Alvaro Quiros (+1), Jose Maria Olazabal, Haotong Li, and Andres Romero.

The second round begins on Friday morning at 08:40 local time (GMT+2), with two groups getting play underway. Antonio Hortal, Jose Luis Adarraga Gomez and Joel Girrbach will start from the 1st, while the 10th sees Juan Salama alongside the American pair of David Cooke and Johannes Veerman to start things off.

Leaderboard:

• 1 (-8): Kristian Krogh Johannessen (NOR)
• 2 (-6): Adri Arnaus (ESP)
• T3 (-5): Dean Burmester (RSA), Jamie Donaldson (WAL), Marcel Siem (GER), Andrea Pavan (ITA), Rafa Cabrera Bello (ESP), Jon Rahm (ESP)
• T9 (-4): Matthew Nixon (ENG), Adrian Otaegui (ESP), Jens Dantorp (SWE), Zander Lombard (RSA), Jason Scrivener (AUS), Samuel del Val (ESP), Nicolas Colsaerts (BEL), Gaganjeet Bhullar (IND), Sihwan Kim (USA)

Selected Others:

• T18 (-3): Miguel Angel Jimenez (ESP), Eduardo de la Riva (ESP), Matteo Manassero (ITA)
• T30 (-2): Sergio Garcia (ESP), Ross Fisher (ENG), Edoardo Molinari (ITA), Justin Harding (RSA)
• T42 (-1): Bernd Ritthammer (GER), Raphael Jacquelin (FRA), Rikard Karlberg (SWE)
• T67 (E): Renato Paratore (ITA), David Horsey (ENG)
• T85 (+1): Lorenzo Gagli (ITA), Hugo Leon (CHL), Kim Koivu (FIN), Alvaro Quiros (ESP), Julian Suri (USA)
• T99 (+2): Jose Maria Olazabal (ESP), Thongchai Jaidee (THA), Koen Kouwenaar (A, NED)
• T112 (+3): Haotong Li (CHN), Marc Warren (SCO), Oliver Wilson (ENG)
• T124 (+5): Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (ESP), Jorge Campillo (ESP), Andres Romero (ARG)