Matt Fitzpatrick, a two-time past champion, carded an opening 7-under 63 for a share of a six-way tie for the lead of the Omega European Masters.
“I played brilliant. Only hit two bad shots, one I got away with and one I got up and down, so that’s as good as I’ve played for a while.”
This week is also the final qualifying event for the European Ryder Cup team and Fitzpatrick needs to finish tied seventh or better to qualify via the World Points List.
Fellow Englishman Eddie Pepperell joined Fitzpatrick in the lead, in spite of a bogey at the first hole, as did Denmark’s John Axelsen, Malaysia’s Gavin Green, Spain’s Nacho Elvira and Japan’s Masahiro Kawamura.
Scotland’s Scott Jamieson is tied in seventh place at 6-under alongside Germany’s Yannik Paul and Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg.
