Renato Paratore and Max Orrin battled the wind to fire rounds of 68 at Barsebäck Golf and Country Club and share the lead after day one of the Nordea Masters.
Gusts along the coast and through the tree-lined holes of the Malmö layout made scoring difficult, but both Italy’s Paratore and England’s Orrin recovered from shaky starts to open up a one-shot lead over Welsh duo Jamie Donaldson and Bradley Dredge.
Frenchman Benjamin Hebert, China’s Li Haotong and Englishman Eddie Pepperell were then at three under.
Jaco Van Zyl is the only South African – there are nine in the field this week – under par after round one. George Coetzee was an early starter on Thursday and finished level. He was later joined by Zander Lombard.
Paratore had a career-best season in 2016, finishing 57th on the Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex, but has just a single top ten so far this term at the Trophée Hassan II.
Orrin came through the Qualifying School last season and is searching for his first European Tour top ten at only his 23rd event.
Paratore was two over after four holes, following bogeys on the third and fourth, but battled back with birdies on the fifth, seventh and ninth to reach the turn in 35.
Another birdie on the tenth saw him edge closer to the early leaders and when he eagled the par five 12th, he was in a share of top spot. An excellent up-and-down from the sand on the 16th then saw him take the lead on his own and he agonisingly saw a putt for birdie and a two-shot advantage lip out on the last.
‘Today has been a really nice day,’ he said. ‘I didn’t start well, I was two over after four holes, but from there to the 18th I played really well, really solid, so in the end it was a good round. ‘I was playing well, even with the two bogeys, so I just had to stay patient, and that helped me to get to five under par.
‘The key for me today was the driver from the tee. That’s very important here because it’s a narrow course. Today it was important that I managed to drive really well.’
Orrin birdied the first, but had to recover from a double-bogey on the third with gains on the fifth, sixth and eighth. Another birdie on the 11th was followed by a lengthy birdie putt on the 14th, and when he too got up-and-down from the sand on the 16th – albeit a different bunker – he had a share of the lead.
‘It was tough out there,’ he said. ‘There were a lot of swirling winds and cross winds as well, so it was difficult to judge clubs. But I managed to put a good score together in the end, so I’m very happy with that.
‘I’ve been playing well recently and putting some good numbers on the board. There are some really good signs with my putting. I’m just really enjoying being out there at the moment.’
Donaldson – who had four consecutive top tens in this event from 2008 to 2011 – was among the early leaders after a hat-trick of birdies from the 18th. A run of six pars followed before a lengthy putt on the ninth left him in a strong position.
Countryman Dredge was a slower starter as he turned in 37 after starting on the tenth, but came to life with four birdies in five holes on the home straight. He made gains on the fifth and sixth, rolled in a 20-footer on the seventh and then left himself a tap-in for birdie on the ninth.
Hebert and Li both had five birdies and two bogeys in their rounds, while Pepperell dropped his only shot of the day on the 17th.
SSP Chawrasia, Scott Hend, José-Filipe Lima, Ashun Wu, Sebastian Soderberg, Jeff Winther and Tom Lewis were all then at two under.
Defending champion Matthew Fitzpatrick and World Number Five Henrik Stenson were level par, with playing partner Alex Noren at two over.
Photo: Getty Images
