Hamburg, Germany, June 6: Ajeetesh Sandhu, who got into the Porsche European Open late in the week, made ample use of it with an opening round of even par 72 and was T-22 at the end of the first day.
The leader was Belgian Thomas Detry (68) and he held a one-shot lead over four players, who carded 69 each.
The other Indian in the field Shubhankar Sharma struggled to 6-over 78 and was way down, needing a strong second round to have any chance of making the cut in the tournament that has been reduced to 54 holes and will finish on Monday.
Sandhu started with a bogey on 10th, which he made up with a birdie on 11th. A string of seven pars was followed by a birdie on first. Then three bogeys in a span of four holes between third and seventh set him back . However, a birdie-birdie finish saw him finish at even par.
Belgian Thomas Detry shot a second nine of 29 strokes on the front side of at Green Eagle Golf Course, as he carded a 4-under to take the lead after the first day. Detry is still searching for a maiden European Tour victory. He was 1-over for the back nine, which he played first.
Sweden’s Alexander Björk, England’s Ashley Chesters, David Law of Scotland and China’s Ashun Wu share second place on 3-under par.
Germany’s Bernd Ritthammer, runner-up at this event when it was last played in 2019, is one of ten golfers in a share of 12th place on one under.
