Antoine Rozner fired a seven-under 65 to lead after the first round of China’s Hainan Open on the European Challenge Tour. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

A BOGEY on the final hole denied Antoine Rozner a blemish-free opening round at the European Challenge Tour’s Hainan Open, in China.

But the Frenchman will nevertheless take a commanding two-stroke lead into day two after carding a seven-under par round of 65.

Rozner, who has won twice on the Road to Mallorca this season, made five birdies prior to the turn after starting his quest for a third victory of 2019 on the 10th tee at Sanya Luhuitou Golf Club.

Three more gains and that single bogey arrived on the back nine as the rest of the field were able to match one of the tournament’s early starters.

Royal Liverpool’s Matthew Jordan posted a bogey-free 67 to sit in second place, while Frenchman Damien Perrier, Denmark’s Benjamin Poke and late-finisher Josh Geary, from New Zealand were a stroke further back on four-under after opening rounds of 68.

Rozner – winner of the Open de España and Prague Golf Challenge and looking for a third win that would guarantee automatic promotion to the Europrean Tour – acknowledged the quality of his play in China.

But he also admitted to getting a bit of luck along the way. “It was great,” said Rozner, who lies second in the Road to Mallorca rankings, needing a place in the top 15 to earn his full European Tour card for 2020.

“It was just one of those days where I hit a lot of good shots, a lot of good putts and made very few mistakes.

“When I did have a mistake, I got a good bounce and saved par. I got some good reads and it was one of those days where everything just went right.

“I played great and I think if I can keep playing like this for the next three days, I should be in pretty good shape ” added Rozner.

The 26-year-old’s undoubted highlight was a tricky downhill birdie putt from 25 feet on the fourth hole, which he was delighted to convert for a superb up-and-down from the bunker.

“I hit a good drive into the reachable par four and I was in the bunker with an uphill lie,” said Rozner. “It was quite a long bunker shot, so it wasn’t easy and I left it short.

“The putt was really, really fast and I was just looking to put it around the hole, to be honest. It ended up going in, so it was definitely the highlight of the day.”

With temperatures peaking at 33 degrees Celsius in Hainan, Rozner is keeping a keen focus on maintaining his energy levels ahead of the second round.

“I’m not going to waste much energy on the range,” he said. “It’s quite exhausting out there because the wind is swirling and it’s very hot.

“Saving energy is going to be key this week so I’ve got to be careful by staying hydrated and getting some good night’s sleep.”

Kiwi Geary came closest to matching Rozner’s total but two bogeys in his final three holes dropped him back into a tie for third.

That left him one shot clear of eight players on three-under including Zhang Jin and Xiao Bowen, who are currently the leading Chinese players.

The second round will begin at 7.10am local time, with Rozner due on the tee at 12.10pm.

•For live scoring in the Hainan Open click here.

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