September 27-29
Golfclub Murhof, Frohnleiten, Austria
โฌ250,000
Round 2, Round 3
Stephen Dodd is the first to admit his 2019 Staysure Tour campaign has not gone according to plan, yet despite a balky driver, he carded an opening-round of eight under par 64 to take a one shot lead at the Murhof Legends โ Austrian Senior Open.
The Welshman showed remarkable resilience during the Staysure Tourโs first official day of competition in Austria, which is the 45th different country to host Europeโs over-50s circuit.
Following a bogey at the eighth hole, Dodd carded back-to-back birdies on the ninth and tenth, and then repeated the bounce-back effort by erasing his double-bogey at the 15th with consecutive gains on the next two holes.
โThe score was good,โ the 53-year-old said, โI didnโt particularly drive it very well, so Iโve got a bit to work on perhaps, but I am delighted with the score.โ
Dodd has collected one win on the Staysure Tour in each of the three years he has been eligible to play, but has not yet matched that high standard in 2019, and finds himself in 30th on the Order of Merit. Still, the man who collected his first professional title at the 1992 Bank Austria Open knows that the book is not closed this season just yet.
โTo put it politely, itโs been a quite one,โ he said. โThe season is not finished yet though, weโve still got a few more events, so weโll see where we are come December.
WATCH: A perfect day greeted the first-ever Staysure Tour round in Austria 😎#Murhoflegends #MurhofGruppe pic.twitter.com/DILZyrRAFs
โ Staysure Tour (@StaysureTour) September 27, 2019
โThere are plenty of birdie chances if you drive it well around here. The greens are good and the weather was perfect today so it all sets up for a good week.
โSo far, weโve had a fantastic week. Gary Stangl and the team and everybody at Murhof have looked after us fantastically well.โ
The highlight of the day came when Thomas Levet holed his 235-yard second shot into the par five seventh for an albatross.
โMaking an albatross helps a lot,โ the former Ryder Cup winner said. โI had my first albatross 39 years ago when I was 12-years-old and a 24 handicap. I holed a 5-wood then, but there were no spectators.
โToday the spectators behind the green were so shocked nobody reacted, so I thought, from where I was, that the ball had run through the green because I could see the pitch mark but not the ball.
โWhen I arrived at the green, I fixed my pitch mark and started walking to the back of the green when a guy shouted โItโs in the hole!โโ
The Frenchman hit every green in regulation on day one, and along with his three under par hole, signed for a six under par 66, which has him in a share of fourth place alongside Jarmo Sandelin, Josรฉ Coceres and Rafael Gomez.
A pair of Englishmen, double Senior Major Champion Roger Chapman and Staysure Tour Rookie Gary Evans, sit only one stroke behind Dodd on seven under par, while home-hero Markus Brier carded a one under par 71, which currently has him in a share of 29th.
The second round of the Murhof Legends โ Austrian Senior Open begins tomorrow at 9:00 am local time, with the lead group of Dodd, Chapman and Evans set to go at 12:18 pm.
Pos. |
Player | Nat |
To Par |
R1 |
1 |
DODD Stephen | WAL |
-8 |
64 |
2 |
CHAPMAN Roger | ENG |
-7 |
65 |
2 |
EVANS Gary | ENG |
-7 |
65 |
4 |
CARRILES José Manuel | ESP |
-6 |
66 |
4 |
COCERES José | ARG |
-6 |
66 |
4 |
GOMEZ Rafael | ARG |
-6 |
66 |
4 |
LEVET Thomas | FRA |
-6 |
66 |
4 |
SANDELIN Jarmo | SWE |
-6 |
66 |
9 |
GOLDING Philip | ENG |
-5 |
67 |
9 |
LANE Barry | ENG |
-5 |
67 |
9 |
MOLINA Mauricio | ARG |
-5 |
67 |
9 |
PRICE Phillip | WAL |
-5 |
67 |
9 |
REMESY Jean-François | FRA |
-5 |
67 |
14 |
GILFORD David | ENG |
-4 |
68 |
14 |
MARTIN Miguel Angel | ESP |
-4 |
68 |
14 |
SHACKLADY David | ENG |
-4 |
68 |
14 |
WESSELINGH Paul | ENG |
-4 |
68 |
18 |
DAVIS Mark | ENG |
-3 |
69 |
18 |
FOWLER Peter | AUS |
-3 |
69 |
18 |
KINGSTON James | RSA |
-3 |
69 |
21 |
FARRY Marc | FRA |
-2 |
70 |
21 |
LAWRIE Paul | SCO |
-2 |
70 |
21 |
LUNA Santiago | ESP |
-2 |
70 |
21 |
MANSON Gordon | AUT |
-2 |
70 |
21 |
QUIROS Juan | ESP |
-2 |
70 |
21 |
STREETER Paul | ENG |
-2 |
70 |
21 |
THELEN Tim | USA |
-2 |
70 |
21 |
WILLIAMS Chris | RSA |
-2 |
70 |
29 |
ATLEVI Magnus P | SWE |
-1 |
71 |
29 |
BOSSERT André | SUI |
-1 |
71 |
29 |
BRIER Markus | AUT |
-1 |
71 |
29 |
DENNIS Clark | USA |
-1 |
71 |
29 |
EALES Paul | ENG |
-1 |
71 |
29 |
LOMAS Jonathan | ENG |
-1 |
71 |
29 |
MOULAND Mark | WAL |
-1 |
71 |
29 |
OLDCORN Andrew | SCO |
-1 |
71 |
29 |
SUNESON Carl | ESP |
-1 |
71 |
29 |
TINNING Steen | DEN |
-1 |
71 |
29 |
WOLSTENHOLME Gary | ENG |
-1 |
71 |
40 |
BAUER (AM) Charly | AUT |
0 |
72 |
40 |
EMERSON Gary | ENG |
0 |
72 |
40 |
HAEGGMAN Joakim | SWE |
0 |
72 |
40 |
JOB Nick | ENG |
0 |
72 |
40 |
LITTLE Stuart | ENG |
0 |
72 |
40 |
LONGMUIR Bill | SCO |
0 |
72 |
40 |
RICHARDSON Steven | ENG |
0 |
72 |
40 |
SHERBORNE Andrew | ENG |
0 |
72 |
48 |
MACKENZIE Malcolm | ENG |
1 |
73 |
48 |
OLSEN Dan | USA |
1 |
73 |
48 |
WALTON Philip | IRL |
1 |
73 |
48 |
WILSON Peter | ENG |
1 |
73 |
52 |
GRENIER Claude | AUT |
2 |
74 |
52 |
WHARTON Mark | ENG |
2 |
74 |
54 |
BROWN Simon P | ENG |
5 |
77 |
55 |
ROCCA Costantino | ITA |
6 |
78 |
56 |
AUSTIN Richard | ENG |
8 |
80 |
57 |
ORR Gary | SCO |
0 |
0 |