Commercial Bank Qatar Masters: N.Højgaard Leads After 18

Nicolai Højgaard leads the way after the conclusion of the opening round at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters at Education City Golf Club.

After taking the first-round lead at the Qatar Masters, the Dane is aiming to follow in the footsteps of his twin brother, Rasmus, who took the victory at the AFRASIA BANK Mauritius Open in December, becoming the third-youngest player in history to win on the European Tour.

Nicolai leads the Qatar Masters by a single shot, after a first-round that saw nine birdies and two bogeys, including a run of six straight birdies at the start of his back nine.

He leads by one from experienced Dutchman Joost Luiten, who carded a six-under-par round of 65 at Education City on opening day.

A group of six sit two off the lead at -5 after the opening round, including the Spanish duo of Carlos Pigem and Jorge Campillo. Italy’s Lorenzo Gagli, Englishman Andy Sullivan, Denmark’s Jeff Winther, and Belgium’s Thomas Pieters are also in that same grouping.

Benjamin Hebert, Marcus Armitage, Ross Fisher, Robert MacIntyre, and Benjamin Poke are all within four shots of the lead, with Mike Lorenzo-Vera and Oliver Fisher sat at -2.

Last week’s Oman Open winner, Sami Valimaki, and the reigning Commercial Bank Qatar Masters champion, Justin Harding are both at -1, with 63 players under par for the first day.

England’s Eddie Pepperell would have been in the group at level par following his opening round, but after a mistake with his scorecard, he was disqualified from the tournament.

The likes of Nicolas Colsaerts, Peter Hanson and Victor Dubuisson are among those at level par, while Martin Kaymer, and recent European Tour winners Min Woo Lee and Pablo Larrazabal, are all over par.

Edoardo Molinari and Paul Lawrie both had atrocious days at Education City, with the pair both posting opening rounds of 76 to sit at five-over-par.

Back at the top, and Nicolai Højgaard will be aiming to continue his good play from Thursday, as he aims to join his twin brother as a European Tour winner.

The Dane tees off at 12:30, in one of the last groups out on Friday afternoon, and he will be able to see the target set by the chasing pack come to the end of the day’s play.

Leaderboard:

1 (-7): Nicolai Højgaard (DEN)

2 (-6): Joost Luiten (NED)

T3 (-5): Jeff Winther (DEN), Andy Sullivan (ENG), Thomas Pieters (BEL), Jorge Campillo (ESP), Carlos Pigem (ESP), Lorenzo Gagli (ITA)

Selected Others:

T9 (-4): Benjamin Hebert (FRA), Marcus Armitage (ENG)

T16 (-3): Ross Fisher (ENG), Robert MacIntyre (SCO), Benjamin Poke (DEN)

T27 (-2): Mike Lorenzo-Vera (FRA), Oliver Fisher (ENG), Antoine Rozner (FRA)

T41 (-1): Gavin Green (MAS), Sami Valimaki (FIN), Justin Harding (RSA)

T64 (E): Nicolas Colsaerts (BEL), Peter Hanson (SWE), Victor Dubuisson (FRA)

DQ: Eddie Pepperell (ENG)