October 10-13
Olgiata Golf Club, Rome, Italy
€7,000,000
Live leaderboard
Round 2, Round 3, Round 4

Finland's Tapio Pulkkanen fired a bogey-free seven under par round of 64 to take a one shot lead after the opening round of the Italian Open – the fifth event in the European Tour's Rolex Series – with World Number Five Justin Rose among those in contention in Rome.

“I'm really happy with the score. My putter was really hot today, and I didn't make any bogeys, so it was good."

Pulkkanen is currently in 102nd position on the Race to Dubai with only one top ten finish so far this season - eighth place in the Trophée Hassan II - but he posted the lowest opening round of his European Tour career to head a strong leaderboard at Olgiata Golf Club.

The 29 year old carded five birdies on his front nine after starting on the tenth tee and added two more on the way to sit one shot clear of Slovakia's Rory Sabbatini, who birdied his final hole for a round of 65.

“I made a lot of long putts. I was just actually trying to lag it close, and made a lot of putts by doing that. I felt like the greens were really quick today. Especially in the morning, first group. Monday, Tuesday, was not that quick, so I had to be really careful with the putting.

“I think my first year on the European Tour was a learning year. Second year has been more comfortable being here. I haven't played that well in the Rolex tournaments, so this is kind of new situation, but it's a long way to go and I feel good about my game.”

Olympic Champion Rose, who is chasing his third Rolex Series title, is in a group of five players one shot further back on five under par after posting five birdies in his final eight holes after mixing two birdies and two bogeys on the front nine.

“Probably my putting is what I was happiest with today. I really rolled is beautifully from 10, 12, 15 foot today, capitalised a lot on my opportunities, and felt like it was one of those days where I worked off the golf course going, I made the most of that round for sure.”

He shares third place with Dutchman Joost Luiten, American Kurt Kitayama, Rolex Series winner Bernd Wiesberger, the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open champion, and India's Shubhankar Sharma, who birdied the 16 th and eagled the 17th in his 66.

“I hit a lot of good putts before that and they weren't falling, so I was kind of getting easier to make a few birdies coming in," said Sharma. "That tee shot on the 16th was really good, a great four iron to about seven, eight feet, and I made that putt.
“And 17, again, a good drive and a good four iron to the middle of the green and that putt obviously was a bonus. It was like a 40-footer that I made, so pretty happy.”

Italian Francesco Molinari, the 2018 Open Champion and two-time Italian Open champion, opened with a level par round of 71.