British Masters 2021 R1
May 12-15
The Belfry, Sutton Coldfield, England
£1,850,000
Round 2, Round 3, Round 4

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

Matthias Schwab signed for an opening 66 to take the lead on day one of the Betfred British Masters hosted by Danny Willett .

British Masters 2021 R1

The Austrian recorded ten top tens in the 2019 season and is on course to better that score this season with four in his first nine events.

"I don’t know exactly what I need to do to make these good weeks great weeks because if I knew I would have done that already but it’s been a solid start to the season with some really nice finishes," he said.

British Masters 2021 R1

"I couldn’t quite finish way up the leaderboard but the top tens are nice and I’m just trying to do the same going forward and hopefully it’ll just happen. I don’t think I need to change a whole lot because the game is feeling really solid."

He achieved three of those top tens in his last four events and carried that momentum to The Belfry, moving to six under and leading the way by one shot from Scotland's Calum Hill.

British Masters 2021 R1

"I think it’s quite a good score, I’m really happy and pleased with the score but also with how I played," said Schwab.

"I had a slow start but an OK start and then had a really nice stretch from my seventh to 12th hole, played those in five under which was great."

"Overall I kept it together, one bogey and seven birdies so it’s been a really solid day."

Schwab's countryman Bernd Wiesberger lies at four under alongside English pair Richard Bland and James Morrison, French duo Matthieu Pavon and Clément Sordet, South African Louis de Jager, Italian Guido Migliozzi, German Max Schmitt and American Julian Suri.