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America’s Kurt Kitayama leads after day one of the Oman Open on 6-under.
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Defending champion Joost Luiten carded a 3-under-par 69 to sit three strokes back.
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Paul Lawrie opened with a 1-under 71 in his first European Tour start since April 2018.
American Kurk Kitayama sits atop the leaderboard after day one of the Oman Open after shooting a 6-under-par 66 for a one-stroke lead over Scott Jamieson and Yusaku Miyazato with Ryder Cup star Thomas Pieters one of six players on 4-under-par.
Biggest Sporting Event
The cream of the European Tour teed it off in what is the second staging of the event, which is Oman’s biggest professional sporting occasion, and were testing themselves against one of the most spectacular courses on the schedule – the Greg Norman-designed Al Mouj Golf.
“I can understand why Greg believes that Al Mouj is one of the most magnificent layouts he has ever created – and the course is in absolutely wonderful condition,” said two-time Ryder Cup player David Howell, who opened with a 73. “As with all of Greg’s course designs Al Mouj is also environmentally friendly and it was good to see a variety of birds and wildlife. With the Hajeer Mountains in the background and the Indian Ocean running along the waterfront it’s a pleasure to be here.”
Strong Pedigree
Oman is the third of four Middle East countries to host a European Tour event this year following the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, and next week the tour will touch down in Qatar.
“Nobody has the right to moan about this course this week, it’s fantastic,” said Chris Wood, who finished runner-up to Joost Luiten last year and opened with a level par round. “The greens are up there with the best we play on all year. The golf course is immaculate and the facilities are great. This tournament will only grow and grow because of the strength of the course and the facilities.”
Stellar Field
The stellar Oman Open field also includes Ricardo Gouveia, Bernd Ritthammer and Clemént Sordet, all of whom have fond memories of Al Mouj Golf after previously winning the European Challenge Tour Grand Final at the venue in 2015, 2016 and 2017 respectively.
“It’s a great venue and I have some great memories from 2015 on the Challenge Tour,” said Gouveia, who sealed the title with a one-stroke triumph over 2018 Road to Ras Al Khaimah champion Joachim B. Hansen. “The course is very similar and it’s always in great condition. It’s key that you have good distance control with the winds. It’s normally a windy course, so you need to control both your distance and ball flight. The greens are firm and fast and rolling really nicely too.”
The Oman Open concludes on Sunday. Entrance to the tournament is free to all spectators. Free parking is available at Al Mouj Marina carpark with a shuttle service running between the carpark and the tournament venue. The shuttle busses are operating every day from 9am to 6pm.
