Marcus Kinhult opened a two-shot lead at the Nexo Championship as amateur Eliot Baker marked his DP World Tour debut with a 3-under-par 69 in Scotland.
Kinhult mixed seven birdies with two bogeys for a 67 on the Old Course at Trump International Golf Links. Baker shares second with England’s Andrew Wilson, France’s Félix Mory and Zimbabwe’s Benjamin Follett-Smith.
The afternoon starters escaped the morning rain but still faced strong winds, with gusts approaching 30mph. Kinhult admitted his score owed more to his work around the greens than the quality of his long game.
“It was a very ugly minus five,” Kinhult said. “Tee to green, it was not great to be honest.
“My short game and putting was unbelievable today, which obviously helps, so I’m happy with the score.”
Kinhult Recovers From Costly Errors
Beginning at the tenth, Kinhult chipped in for birdie at the par five before picking up further shots at the 13th and 16th. Another up-and-down birdie at the first moved him to 4-under.
His progress was interrupted by a tee shot into the water at the 2nd and a lost ball from the 4th tee. He limited the damage at the 4th to a bogey, making birdie with his second ball after the penalty.
The Swede responded with a birdie at the 5th, hit his tee shot close at the short 6th and converted from 20 feet at the 7th. The run left him two shots clear late in the round.
“I think the bogey on 4 was the most important, to be honest, because I lost a ball left off the tee, so I made birdie on my second ball, which was good for the momentum,” he said.
Kinhult secured his only DP World Tour title at the 2019 British Masters. He came close to a second victory earlier in 2026, finishing tied second in Belgium.
Baker Makes Immediate Impression
Baker, the only amateur in the field, was selected on Tuesday for the Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup team that will play at Lahinch next month. The Nexo Championship tested his links golf under tournament pressure.
The Englishman birdied the downwind 1st, bogeyed the par-3 3rd and eagled the 4th. A three-putt bogey followed at the 5th before he birdied the short par-4 7th and dropped another shot at the 8th, turning in 1-under.
Baker made no further bogeys. He holed a 12-foot putt at the 11th and closed with another birdie from a similar distance at the 18th.
“Didn’t really know what to expect from today, but I just enjoyed the experience out there and thankfully it went well,” Baker said.
“I’ve no expectation this week, just purely trying to enjoy it, gaining the experience and hoping it builds me as a player.”
Baker won the 2025 Scottish Men’s Open Championship at North Berwick. He also sees value in competing on a wind-exposed links before the Walker Cup at Lahinch, where similar conditions could favour the home side.
Mory joined Baker on 3-under after handling the afternoon gusts with six birdies and three bogeys. Follett-Smith also reached 69 as he seeks to improve his position of 173rd in the Race to Dubai Rankings.
Eight players finished another stroke back at 2-under, including Scotland’s Scott Jamieson, Japan’s Keita Nakajima and Danish pair Jacob Skov Olesen and Lucas Bjerregard.
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Simon Bale
Simon Bale is the publisher of Golf Today. A low single-figure handicap golfer, he was previously a major shareholder and course reviewer for Top100GolfCourses.com for over a decade, starting in 2010. Through this role, he developed extensive knowledge of golf course design and architecture while playing more than 300 courses worldwide.