Saturday 25 July 2015 13:00, UK
A hole-in-one helped Gregory Havret move in to a one-shot lead after the opening round of the Omega European Masters.
The Frenchman recovered from a blemish on his opening hole to ace his tee-shot at the 194-yard 13th with a four-iron, following it up with four further birdies and an eagle during a fog-delayed first round.
By finding the green off the tee at the par-four seventh and holing the long birdie putt, Havret moved clear of the bunched group on five under and close a seven-under 63, setting the early pace at Crans-sur-Sierre GC.
"It’s a little bit strange, for a few seconds you don’t know what to do because you can’t believe it," Havret told the European Tour website about his hole-in-one. "Then when you hear everybody shouting and cheering by the green, you know it’s real and you start to go crazy yourself.
"After that happened, you couldn’t take the smile from off my face. I was very happy, and I play my best golf when I’m happy.
"It’s been a little while, because I haven’t been playing my best lately. There’s still a long way to go of course, but it’s nice to be up in contention and I’m very happy with my start."
Tyrrell Hatton had looked set to take the first round advantage after adding a hat-trick of birdies to a front-nine 29, but found the water twice on his way to posting a triple-bogey seven at the 18th.
The final-hole blemish leaves Hatton in a 12-way tie for third on five under, with Denmark's Lasse Jensen, who only arrived at the tournament late on Wednesday as first reserve, in second spot after a bogey-free 64.
Hatton is joined two shots off the pace by compatriots Richard Bland and Danny Willett, who continued where he left off at last week's 144th Open by carding five birdies and an eagle during an impressive first round.
"They've tinkered with the golf course again this year so it's playing fairly tough," Willett said. "Anything under par was a decent score, especially give the fog delay, so a 65 is very pleasing.
"It sets up quite nicely for me here. It's a good fun golf course, and a good fun week. I've got my family here with me, so it's been a nice week off the course and, so far, a nice week on it as well. Long may it continue!"
Havret's ace was one of two during the first day as Michael Hoey nailed his tee shot with an eight-iron at the 177-yard third to also open with a 65, while defending champion David Lipsky lurks two off the pace.
Back-to-back gains to finish from Bernd Wiesberger saw the Austrian join Patrick Reed and Jamie Donaldson in posting three-under 67s, with Lee Westwood a further stroke back after picking up a shot at the last.
Sergio Garcia recovered from dropping three strokes on his opening two holes to close a one-under 69, while Tommy Fleetwood also dunked his ball twice at the 18th to end the round one over.
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