Alfredo Garcia-Heredia shot an eagle at the par-5 14th and five birdies to close with a 7-under 63 for a share of the lead at the Omega European Masters.
“I played really solid. You know I got lucky with the draw, no rain, a little bit windy, but I played really solid on the par fives, hitting greens, my irons were good. It was one of those rounds were everything flows,” said the Spaniard.
“My putting has really improved since BMW International, my strength in the game is normally playing solid with my driving irons, the weakness has been my putting.
“But the last few weeks everything was off except the putter, so this week we were working with my coach the last couple weeks and my game looks back on track.”
England’s Alex Fitzpatrick made six birdies for his share of the lead and like his co-leader was among the late starters who enjoyed calmer conditions.
“I got the nice side of the draw to be honest, this morning was brutal and luckily the last eight or nine holes there was not much wind so it was nice to capitalise on the opportunities I had and hopefully the same tomorrow,” said Fitzpatrick.
“The wind was a difficult factor for putting, later on in the day the greens, with how much its rained, were fairly soft and having three-footers on these greens with the wind was pretty tricky.
“I was happy to nudge them close as much as I could. Just happy to have a good back nine and finish the way I did.”
Englishman Matt Wallace played through the rain in the morning but managed to close with a bogey-free 64 for a share of third place at 6-under.
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