Czech Masters 2021 R1
August 19-22
Albatross Golf Resort, Prague, Czech Republic
€1,000,000
Round 2, Round 3, Round 4

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

Henrik Stenson's goal of making the Ryder Cup team at Whitling Straits is looking closer to coming true after the Swede took the lead at 5-under in front of European Team captain Padraig Harrington at the D+D Real Czech Masters.

Czech Masters 2021 R1

Stenson has had an impressive career but has not won on the European Tour since the Open Championship at Royal Troon in 2016 and is currently 204th on the Official World Golf Ranking. His recent form includes eleven missed cuts in his last 16 events but there was no sign of faltering on Thursday when he produced three birdies and an eagle at the par-5 9th hole for a bogey-free 67.

"I'm very happy with the score. I hit some really good shots, on nine in particular, those two good ones. There were a couple of swings I'm not overly happy with – my commitment – I've been working hard on the swing, I need to keep on working hard. I still managed to miss in the right places and kept it tidy around the greens and the putter was working fine today. I'm happy with the score and the progress I'm making. Commitment can be a little better and confidence can definitely be a little bit better.

Czech Masters 2021 R1

"Nine, I hit a really good drive off the tee and it left me all of a three wood left. That was one of the best three woods I've hit for years and years. I hit a really good one in the Pro-Am as well, so it was copy and paste and it's nice to have a three-footer for eagle."

Czech Masters 2021 R1

Australian Maverick Antcliff fired six birdies and a bogey to join him in first place.

"It was nice. I got off to a solid start and tried to keep things moving forward – trying to feed off all the good stuff from last week.

"I have that conversation with my sports-psych every week. I think last week there was a lot of good stuff, just finished Saturday Sunday not as well as I'd have liked – a lot of positives. Just trying to stay patient, it's all the clichés – patience, taking it one shot at a time, staying present, that's what I tried to do today really.

"Fairways, greens, hole a couple of putts. Take opportunities when you get them. It's a nice layout, great condition and the greens are good."

Czech Masters 2021 R1

Englishmen Sam Horsfield and Danny Willett are tied for third place at 4-under alongside South African Dean Burmester, Americans Sean Crocker and Paul Peterson, Dane Nicolai Højgaard, Czech Ondrej Lieser, Pole Adrian Meronk and Finn Tapio Pulkkanen.

"A little bit up and down: seven birdies, a bogey and a double. Lots of good and a couple of iffy ones we got punished for," said Willett. "A nice start to the week. I played yesterday, it's slightly different to how I remember it. A little bit more defined. I was intrigued to see how scoring would go, with a bit of wind over the last three days – kind of what I thought. Scores around here are notoriously quite low, it'll maybe be slightly higher this year with how the wind and the weather has been."

Czech Masters 2021 R1