Mikko Korhonen fired six birdies, including two back-to-back to close his round, an ace at the par-3 4th hole and a single bogey at the 7th to close with a 7-under 64 and a share of the lead at the KLM Open after Italy’s Matteo Manassero had earlier set the clubhouse target with a bogey-free round.
“Speechless,” said the Finn. “The hole-in-one was a nice little extra there but it was a solid round, everything was pretty solid. Putted well, hit it well off the tee, no complaints.
“It was 145 metres with an eight iron straight at it. It pitched five or six inches before the hole and one bounce, and then we celebrated.
“I was pretty good off the tee. I didn’t hit it into the long stuff which was key today.”
Manassero, who won his fifth DP World Tour title earlier this year, missed the cut at last week’s US Open but came back strong this week.
“Very satisfying,” he said. “It is a tough course so you need to earn a round like this around here and the conditions obviously helped us, the course is firming up so it is playing a little shorter and the wind never really pumped. So, it was a good day to play some good golf and have a good round but never easy.
“On the weekend I was tired. I didn’t play but it is kind of stressful, and stressful in a good way, because you put all your energy into preparing for the US Open and it beats you up and then you have a drop in adrenalin, so I was a little bit tired, but I am really happy to be playing. The US Open was a really tough experience, but I want to take it for what it is and reset.”
One shot behind the leaders lies Japan’s Rikuya Hoshino who shot nine birdies and three bogeys for a 6-under 65.
England’s James Morrison fired a bogey-free 66 for a share of fourth place at 5-under alongside American Sean Crocker, Sweden’s Henrik Norlander and Italy’s Edoardo Molinari.
Related: Scottie Scheffler not worried about poor performance at the US Open
For the latest news in the golfing world, follow us on X (Formally Twitter).
