Simon Dyson, Rikard Karlberg and Liang Wen-chong share a three-way tie for the lead after the first round of the Russian Open. Dyson, the pre-tournament favourite, lived up to his billing by shooting an unblemished five-under-par 67 at Tseleevo Golf & Polo Club on Thursday. The Englishman carded two birdies on the front nine and three on the way back in to leave him content at the end of the day&aposs play. “That was as good as I have played for a long, long time,” he said. “I missed one fairway and that was by a yard and then just hit so many quality iron shots. “It was coming straight out of the middle of the club face all day and when you are hitting it like that then you just have to enjoy and try to take as many chances as you can. “I don&apost want to say I am disappointed with five under because you can never be too disappointed with that, but it could have been a lot better because I missed a few real good birdie chances and left a few shots out there.” Karlberg recovered from two bogeys on the opening two holes to birdie the sixth and seventh before pitching in to eagle the eighth to go out in 34. Three more birdies followed on the back nine to leave the Swede in a promising position. Like Dyson, China&aposs Liang was rarely in trouble during his opening round, a bogey on the par-four 12th the only blot on his scorecard. England s Matthew Baldwin and James Morrison, Spain&aposs Javier Colomo and Italian Alessandro Tadini all sit one shot behind the leaders after shooting 68, with former US Open champion Michael Campbell two shots further back on two-under par. Scott Hend and Daniel Gaunt are flying the flag for Australia in a tie for 14th place at -2, while Terry Pilkadaris a further shot back. Former tennis world number one Yevgeny Kafelnikov, an occasional player on the European Tour, had another tough day. The 39-year-old is yet to make the cut at any of the five tournaments that he has played in and after a nine-over-par 81 his chances look slim again.
Author: Omnisport