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Oman Open: Migliozzi Leads as Play Suspended Before Day 1 Conclusion

By Matt Coles

MUSCAT, OMAN - FEBRUARY 27: Guido Migliozzi of Italy acknowledges the crowd on the 9th green during Day 1 of the Oman Open at Al Mouj Golf Complex on February 27, 2020 in Muscat, Oman. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)
MUSCAT, OMAN - FEBRUARY 27: Guido Migliozzi of Italy acknowledges the crowd on the 9th green during Day 1 of the Oman Open at Al Mouj Golf Complex on February 27, 2020 in Muscat, Oman. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images) /
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Italy’s Guido Migliozzi sits at the top of the Oman Open leaderboard after a sublime 66 on opening day, with play suspended for bad light.

Migliozzi carded a bogey-free six-under-par round on Thursday at the Oman Open at Al Mouj, starting with birdies at the 10th and 12th, before going on to have a run of three birdies on the front nine, his second nine.

The Italian is looking for his third European Tour victory having previously tasted success at the Magical Kenya Open and the Belgian Knockout in 2019.

He leads by one shot over a trio of golfers in South Africa’s Brandon Stone, Denmark’s Rasmus Højgaard, and South Korea’s Taehee Lee.

The trio all carded 67s on the opening day at Al Mouj to sit at -5, with the Korean having the most eventful round of the three, with seven birdies and two bogeys in his round. Meanwhile, the AFRASIA BANK Mauritius Open winner went without a blip on Thursday, as did the South African Stone.

A group of eight players sits in a tie for 5th at -4, including the English pair of Andy Sullivan and Ross Fisher, while Victor Dubuisson, who finished 3rd at the Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers, is also in that gaggle of players. Fisher needed this bit of magic at the par-3 8th to save par.

A former winner of this event, Joost Luiten, is amongst those three shots off the lead after an opening round of 69, with Nicolas Colsaerts in that group alongside him.

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Pedro Figueiredo and Lorenzo Gagli, who had already gone through the process of withdrawing and then being reinstated after a negative test for the COVID-19 virus, are among those who need to complete their final holes after play was suspended for the day.

Peter Hanson, Gavin Green, and Thomas Detry are also in the red numbers, with 52 players carding under-par rounds on opening day at the Oman Open.

Wil Besseling and Joel Sjöholm, runner-up at the Alfred Dunhill Championship, sit at even par, with Martin Kaymer and Haotong Li a couple of the high-profile names to be at +1 after the opening round.

Paul Lawrie, Thomas Pieters, Oliver Fisher, and Adri Arnaus will need to shoot low on Friday to make the cut, while the most recent winner on the European Tour, Min Woo Lee, posted a five-over-par round of 77 at Al Mouj. The Aussie will need something of a miracle if he is to feature this weekend.

The second-round action will get underway tomorrow after the final few players have completed their first rounds, with Migliozzi taking a one-shot lead into Friday’s play.

Leaderboard:

1 (-6) Guido Migliozzi (ITA)

T2 (-5): Brandon Stone (RSA), Rasmus Højgaard (DEN), Taehee Lee (KOR)

T5 (-4): Andy Sullivan (ENG), Ross Fisher (ENG), Victor Dubuisson (FRA)

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Selected Others:

T13 (-3): Nicolas Colsaerts (BEL), Joost Luiten (NED)

T25 (-2): Peter Hanson (SWE), Clement Sordet (FRA), Ashun Wu (CHN)

T38 (-1): Gavin Green (MAS), Thomas Detry (BEL), Antoine Rozner (FRA)

T53 (E): Wil Besseling (NED), Joel Sjöholm (SWE), Johannes Veerman (USA)

T72 (+1): Martin Kaymer (GER), Haotong Li (CHN), Pablo Larrazabal (ESP)

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