Welshman Bradley Dredge continued his strong Commercial Bank Qatar Masters form with a stunning opening round of 8 under par 64 to take the lead at Doha Golf Club.
The 43 year old, who has played in the tournament 15 times, posted a career high fourth place finish here last year and he continued in the same form on his return to Qatar’s capital yesterday, rattling off eight birdies in a blemish free round.
Qatar regular
“I’ve played the course enough over the years, and this year, the greens are probably slightly less grainy than normal,” said Dredge, who picked up shots on the first, fifth, 10th, 11th, 13th, 15th and 16th. “I felt as though I really got my eye in today, apart from my last two putts. But apart from that, I putted really well.”
“I think you get used to the course over the years. You know that you’re going to get to the course and good scores are going to be up there. So you just go out there, play your own game and see what happens.”
Now that’s a golf shot 👏👏
Bradley Dredge takes the lead at 8 under par. pic.twitter.com/OgZi5RGZ81 — The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) January 26, 2017
Finland’s Mikko Korhonen lies in second place after shooting 7 under par 65, his best round here in three outings. The 36 year old, who is still searching for his first European Tour title, was in imperious form with seven birdies on a bogey free card.
“I thought I would probably have a chance today, because it’s definitely the most calm day I’ve seen it here,” he said. “I hit it solid, made a couple long putts and made all the short ones. So basically there were no mistakes and no bogeys and I didn’t hit in the rough many times. That was good.”
McDowell’s local knowledge
Meanwhile Graeme McDowell showed that he’d lost none of his knowledge of the Doha Golf Club course during his five-year hiatus from the event, the Northern Irishman impressing with a 6 under par 66 to share third place with England’s Nathan Kimsey and Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat.
“It’s great to get off to a fast start right out of the gates, birdieing the first three holes and that kind of set the tone for the day,” said McDowell. “I really felt like I gave myself a lot of chances, even on the tougher front nine, for my second nine.”
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