South Africa’s Thriston Lawrence was a shot behind the co-leaders, Frenchman Jeong weon Ko and England’s Paul Waring, after the opening round of the Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo.
Ko, who is still awaiting his maiden DP World Tour title, had struggled in recent weeks – he has made only one cut on his last six starts – but he gave himself a much-needed confidence boost by coming home in 31 for a rewarding 67.
He traded a birdie with a bogey to be level par through 11 holes at the Belfry, however, five birdies in six holes saw him charge into the early clubhouse lead.
It was a target that looked to be too good for the field until Waring timed his challenge to perfection, courtesy of a stunning back nine.
The 39-year-old, like Ko, shared a bogey and gain on the front nine before a birdie blitz after the turn.
Waring drained four straight birdies from the 10th before carding his second bogey, only to pick up two shots to sit at the summit on five under.
Ko was briefly joined at the top by Lawrence, but a bogey on the last saw him drop back alongside Spaniard Jorge Campillo at four under.
“I think it was solid overall,” Ko said. “I played the driver well. My irons were good. Putting was really good. There was no part of the game that was bad really. So quite happy with the round.
“Greens were a bit firmer this week so I was a bit more cautious about the pins. That was the key to success I think today.”
Ko got his round under way at the 3rd hole when he drained his birdie putt from 17 feet, but he was soon back to level par when he needed two attempts to get out of the greenside rough at the par-three 7th.
He parred his way to 12th hole, which sparked his birdie blitz. The 26-year-old was hot with the putter once again when he holed out from 18 feet to get back in the red numbers.
Despite finding rough with his tee-shot at the next, Ko dialled in his approach to concessional range for back-to-back gains.
He parred the 14th, but that was only a brief reprieve for the scoreboard as Ko began his hat-trick of birdies from the next.
The Frenchman was on the green in two at the par-five 15th and was inches short from carding an eagle as he climbed to three under.
Ko picked up another shot at the 16th to climb to the summit for the first time at four under and when he chipped to within two feet at the next, he was the first person in the clubhouse at five under.
Waring got off to a slower start than his rivals after a bogey at the 3rd and did not get to level par until the 8th when he picked up his first shot from seven feet.
It was on the back nine where Waring worked his way up the leaderboard due to his birdie trail.
He struck his approach to within two feet at the 10th to get into the red numbers before another fine second shot to six feet led to another gain at the next.
Waring completed his hat-trick when holing a 17-foot putt at the par-three 12th and his fourth straight birdie came at the next from 11 feet.
The putter went cold when he lipped out a par putt from four feet at 14th to slip back to three under, but back-to-back gains from the 16th saw him join Ko at the top by one stroke.
Lawrence had carded six birdies and a solitary dropped shot when heading down the last, but a wayward tee-shot saw him slip into the challenging pack.
Despite plenty jostling throughout the day, only Campillo lasted the distance after an eagle, three birdies and a bogey in his 68.
Four Englishmen are among the 12 players at three under. Laurie Canter, Jordan Smith, Tyrrell Hatton and Andrew Wilson are joined by Norway’s Kristian Krogh Johannessen, Frenchman Tom Vaillant, Japan’s Yuto Katsuragawa, Italian Andrea Pavon, Swede Simon Forsström, Australia’s David Micheluzzi, German Hurly Long and Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher.
Defending champion Daniel Hillier mixed four birdies with three dropped shots to sit four adrift of the lead at one under.
Photo: Andrew Redington/Getty Images
